


The Rifle

by Crystalline1206



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, The Mandalorian (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Baby Yoda gets a Wookie name, Blood and Injury, Dirty Talk, Dry Humping, F/M, Falling In Love, Family Member Death, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Grinding, Hand Jobs, Hurt/Comfort, Mando is chatty when he’s horny, Masturbation, Mutual Pining, Naked Female Clothed Male, Older Man/Younger Woman, Porn With Plot, Praise Kink, Quiet Sex, Reader-Insert, Semi-Public Sex, Sexual Tension, Sharing a Bed, Slow Burn, Smut, Vaginal Fingering
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-15
Updated: 2020-12-27
Packaged: 2021-02-27 04:47:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 65,743
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22271308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Crystalline1206/pseuds/Crystalline1206
Summary: You always believed that trouble had a knack for finding you... You just never realized what trouble really meant until you met him.—“Why did you help me?”“...You looked like you needed your rifle,”Update: Ch. 26-28 were rewritten, didn’t like the direction things were going.
Relationships: Baby Yoda & The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV), Baby Yoda (The Mandalorian TV) & Reader, Din Djarin/Reader, The Mandalorian (The Mandalorian TV)/Reader
Comments: 571
Kudos: 2114





	1. Kal’Tava

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Welcome to my first story I actually have a plan for! I fell down a deep dark Mandalorian hole and I plan on making a living here. 
> 
> So sit back, relax, and enjoy! If you have any pointers or tips feel free to send them my way, but please, be kind!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You never get a second chance to make a first impression

* * *

_“Did you see the Mandalorian in town?”_

Your father couldn’t help but notice you perking up after overhearing your sister’s conversation. He swung around to your work station and gave you a nudge to get you back to work, which you returned in kind at being caught. Sure, Odell and Ravi could stand around and talk while putting merchandise away, but as soon as you so much as tilt your head, you get stuck with the reprimand. You did allow yourself a small bit of pride at being the best out of your siblings with fixing blasters and the occasional landspeeder, but at the cost of being able to walk into the market and gossip with friends, it didn’t seem like all that great of an accomplishment at the moment.

“A Mandalorian? Those are the bounty hunters right? With all the weapons and armor?” You piped up from your little corner as you fiddled with the blaster in your hands, only to have it yanked from your hands as your father towered over you.

“No no no, I know you. You keep your head down and stay out of trouble, _Yena._ I mean it,” Your eyes crossed as he waved a meaty finger in your face.

“But I—“ Your voice pitched in defense.

”Calm down, Cadri. It’s hard not being curious about new people here, she doesn’t mean anything by it,” Your mother, ever the voice of reason, seemed to understand you teenage curiosity more than the rest of your family.

Your father, however, was strict man, quiet, and kept to himself; all qualities that he “claimed” helped him live through some of the galaxy’s more tumultuous years... Honestly, you thought it had more to do with the fact that you all lived in the shadiest part of the outer rim. Nonetheless, your father strove to instill these qualities into his many children, mostly through manual labor and a lack of free time. Hard to get into trouble when you hardly left the weapons mechanic shop, but you always swore that you never went looking for trouble. Truly, it just always seemed to find you. You always thought it had more to do with being one of the younglings and getting left behind to fend for yourself out of your three sisters and two brothers.

“Oh come on, _Baba_ _._ I don’t get into trouble!” You exclaimed heatedly.

“Ha! If you lied half as well as you fixed blasters then maybe that would have been more believable,” You heard your sister’s snarky comment from the corner of the store.

“Nobody asked for your opinion, Odell—“ You snapped.

“It’s not an opinion it’s a fact,”

“I’ll show you a fact, when I come over there and kick your a—!” You had already started to get up to lunge towards her when your father tried to intervene.

“Girls! Enough—“

“... Do you carry ammo for Amban rifles?”

Five pairs of eyes turned towards the lone figure that had just stepped through the doorway. Your eyes immediately focused on the T-shaped visor set in smooth silver beskar. Even out here, you and your siblings were all trained to know quality steel when you saw it, what with your family being in weapon and ship repairs. This was your first time seeing real Mandalorian beskar in person though, much less on a real Mandalorian. You knew there had been a Mandalorian in town a few years back but you’d never actually seen him since he worked for gangsters. Your family must have though if the wide eyed looks of your family members were anything to go by, he definitely did cut an intimidating figure.

“... Yes. We don’t have much in stock but we do carry the rounds,” Your father finally broke the tense silence, startling your sister and mother into action as they shuffled over to the stock room.

“I’ll take what you have. How much?” The Mandalorian swung his rifle around to place in front of your father, but something in the movement caught your eye.

“15 wupiupi—“

“Your rifle... it has a short in the barrel,” You vaguely heard your father’s harsh whisper of your name as you tentatively reached for the rifle, “The trigger is loose, and butt of the rifle is worn down as well... probably from the recoil when you fire,”

You looked up and met the empty glare of the T-visor, your breath caught as you realized that you had essentially taken his gun out of his hands and given him unsolicited criticism on the maintenance of said gun to his face— or rather helmet. You knew you were right in your assessment, you’d been working on guns your entire life, but being met with silence made your stomach drop. You resisted the urge to blurt out that you didn’t really know anything, that you were just a stupid 15 year old trying to impress a bounty hunter, when he finally spared you from the embarrassment. After what felt like ages, but was surely only seconds, the Mandalorian inclined his head mildly in your father’s direction.

“How much for the repairs?” If anyone saw your knees buckle, you were glad that they hadn’t mentioned it.

“The repairs and the ammo for 60 wupiupi, no less,”

“Fine. How long for the repairs to be done” At this the Mandalorian turned your way and you nearly choked, was he expecting you to do it?

“Uh-hrm... a-a couple of hours? 3 tops—“

“You’ve got one and a half. I’ll pay half now and half when it’s finished,” he neatly dropped a pouch into your father’s unexpecting hands and walked out. The silence left in his wake was deafening, until...  


“ _ Yena _ , what have you gotten yourself into? You foolish girl!” 

_** Kriff. ** _

* * *

To say that your parents were mortified, terrified, and petrified by the spectacular heights of your audacity and stupidity would have been an understatement. Your father cursed every piece of faulty machinery in the shop as he helped you strip the rifle, and despite your mother’s many exclamations of being at a loss for words, she still proceeded to nearly shriek at you for the next 20 minutes as you scrambled to get your workstation together. All in all, you were nearly to the point of tears and you only had an hour left to fix the damned thing.

“I take back every time I said I didn’t get myself into trouble, you were right, you were all right,” Your mother’s hysterics must have rubbed off on you because you were nearly inconsolable as you tore your station apart for a driver small enough to tighten the trigger to the firing mechanism.

In a moment of clarity, your father finally kicked your mother and sisters out so you could focus, not that it helped much at this point as you glanced at the clock every 5 minutes. After the 5th time you burned yourself with your welder you finally stopped watching the clock and finished up. The short itself was an exposed wire that was messing with the transfer of the Tibanna gas and creating more force than necessary during firing, which resulted in the excessive recoil and a loose trigger. Your father’s store didn’t carry the type of gunstock necessary to replace the worn butt of the Mandalorian’s rifle, so all you could do was clean, reassemble, and call it done. You wiped your brow and looked up at the clock and realized you had actually made it with 3 minutes to spare, sobs of relief nearly melting you out of your chair as you held the rifle reverently to your chest. 

“Get down!” You felt the shock of the explosion before you saw the smoke and ran out into the street with the rifle still pressed to your chest.

“What’s going on?!” You managed your pull one of your neighbors towards you from the people running away from the blast.

“That Mandalorian, the-the crew he was with turned on him! It’s a disaster, he’s holed up in a house, they have him pinned cuz he got hurt saving Ravi!” You felt your blood run cold.

_ The Mandalorian had saved your sister..._

The Mandalorian had **saved** your sister and he had gotten hurt doing it, and now he was trapped in a house getting shot at by his own crewmates. 

Your feet began to move before you had even finished thinking of a plan, rushing into the store and grabbing a box of the ammo the Mandalorian had requested. You strapped the gun to your back and rushed out the back door. It was starting to look like trouble was going to be a friend of yours now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This story takes place 10 years before Mando and Baby Yoda leave Nevarro as a clan of 2.
> 
> I did some quick math and estimated that Din was born around 3251 LY / 26BBY which is a few years before the clone wars and therefore he is around 35 years old when The Child is found in 3286 / 9ABY.
> 
> All that said, Mando is in his mid 20’s to your young teens and any and all romance will be much much later.
> 
> P.S. Yena is a play on y/n, thought it’d be a clever way to handle that!


	2. Shootouts and Ladders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trouble is a friend... or foe.

* * *

_ It was starting to look like trouble was going to be a friend of yours now._

  
  


Stars above, what were you even doing? You were just some kid, he was a freaking  _ Mandalorian,_ he didn’t need your help... he’s got to be working on a plan in that little house he’s holed up in, and his crewmates will get tired any moment now! The sounds of blaster fire were getting louder and your feet still hadn’t stopped moving, reality had begun to set in, you were really about to dump your skinny 15 year old butt into the middle of a shoot out for a complete stranger. Your slightly hysteric laughter rung in your ears as you turned onto a side street closest to the square.

You ducked into a small corner and fumbled with the ammo box as you loaded the gun, then leaned back harshly against the wall trying to calm your frantic heart. With a final grunt you turned and looked up, the best way to use an Amban  _ sniper  _ rifle was to use it the way the name suggested, by being a sniper. Snipers had vantage points, and good aim... and you, well, you had the vantage point as you stared up at the tallest building in town. Nevermind that the closest thing to a rifle you had ever shot with was for pest control purposes with the krayt dragons that came over the ridge, or that you had no real means of scaling this building to the roof.

“Come on out, Mando,” you heard someone cry out in a singsong voice, “Just give us the bounty money and you can make it out of here alive... or not”

_You needed to hurry up._

You ran around the building and found the pegs the maintenance people used to attach their ladders to get to the roof access. Quickly, you managed to climb up and crawl your way over to the ledge, propping yourself up as much as possible without exposing yourself as you cocked the rifle. Your hands were sweating so much you thought they’d drop the damn thing over the edge. You peeked into the scope and found the instigators of the shoot out. You fingered the trigger and... faltered, letting out a shuddered breath. You knew what Amban rifles did, they were essentially T-7 ion rifles, they _disintegrated _ people. Were you really about to shoot this thing? Even if it was at bounty hunters, you’d never shot at a person, only animals, and only when they got too close to town. You felt bile rising up into your throat until you heard the loud sound of metal clanging, you looked down scope quickly to find that they had dragged the Mandalorian out of the house and had blasters aimed at his helmet. You reacted before the thought caught up to you and fired.

The recoil dug the gunstock into your shoulder and you winced, but your eye never left the scope. You had managed to hit one of the stragglers in the corner and now they were looking for you. _**Well shit.**_ You  fired repeatedly, feeling slightly guilty about wasting ammo, and getting one of the hunters in the back that was not moving. You watched them scramble to look for you while you shot cover fire for the Mandalorian. Then, you had the honor of watching the Mandalorian take action as he used your distraction to his advantage. You never knew a man in armor could move the way he was, it seemed like all he needed was just to reduce the number of people firing at him from five to three. Now that he was moving though, it was getting harder to shoot without the fear of accidentally vaporizing him. You backed away from the scope to see everything that was happening, only to duck with a scream when a blaster shot nearly seared your ear off. 

“I found you, little sniper,” You clutched at your tunic trying to catch your breath. You hadn’t really thought this far into the plan. Sure, the idea that they  _ could  _ have found you had crossed your mind, but now that you were here you were scrambling yet again. You peeked over the edge only to see a Toydarian pointing a blaster your way. 

“There you are, little one,” In that moment, you hoped to never stare down the barrel of a blaster again. You waited for the shot... that never came, since the bounty hunter just keeled over in a smoking heap before he could. You nearly passed out in relief, your body slumped against the ledge and your fingers creaked as you released the gun from your grip.  


“Whoever you are, come out before you end up like the toydarian,” A cold modulated voice washed over you and you realized that maybe you weren’t as safe as you had assumed.

“P-p-please, don’t s-shoot. I just wanted to h-help,” You stood slowly and turned to face the Mandalorian staring up at you.

The silence was deafening as you both just stood and stared at each other from across the square.

“You’re that kid from the store,” You could feel his sigh more than you could hear it, “What the hell are you doing kid? Why did you help me?”

“... You looked like you needed your rifle,”

Nailed it.

* * *

There was a tense silence that followed your little exchange with the Mandalorian, his visor boring into your soul you assumed... or he was wondering what he had done wrong in his life to be staring down a dumb teenager after a blaster fight with his own crew. Finally, he looked away to the side and you followed his gaze towards the ship now soaring off into the atmosphere. 

Oh. 

_**Oh.** _

T hat was his crew, or what was left of them... leaving him... on Kal’Tava. He swung his head around to look at you right as you were looking down at him, making you jump and look away at having been caught.

“Come on down, kid,” He turned away to rummage through the clothes of the disintegrated and the dead mercenaries, “And bring my rifle,”

“Umm!” You watched his shoulders slump before he turned marginally your way, as if to say ‘what now?’  


“I... I can’t get down. I scaled the building using some pegs and I don’t think I can get down like I got up...”

You watched the sun glint off his beskar helmet as he looked up at heavens. He turned fully towards you and walked closer to the building, gesturing for you to come to the edge before opening his arms.

“... You’re joking... I am not jumping off this building and into you ‘waiting’ arms!” Your voice was shriller than you had intended, but he could not be seriously expecting you to risk you life... You knew, you just _knew_ he had to have been giving you the smuggest look right then as you realized that you technically already had risked your life for him. He gestured at you with his hands again, as if to say that he didn’t have all day.

“If I die, you better at least pay my family compensation for dropping their best mechanic,” You deadpanned.

“Just jump,”

You just stared into the empty visor, giving him a deep sigh as you held his rifle up above your head, closed your eyes, and shrieked as you hopped off the ledge.

Your family’s shop got enough travelers that you got to hear some ‘fun’ stories from pilots and the like about how your life would flash before your eyes as you died, or that falling out of the sky happened both faster and slower than you imagined it would. You hadn’t really understood that concept until this moment, as you simultaneously felt like you had been falling for 10 years but also only for 10 seconds. Until you felt the solid hit of metal armor digging into your side. You opened your eyes hesitantly and looked up at the Mandalorian currently holding you in his arms, while you held his rifle with stiff arms above your head.

“... I don’t ever want t-to do that a-again,” you whispered harshly to yourself as you climbed down from his arms.

The Mandalorian looked at you expectantly, and you realized you still held his rifle in your hands, quickly depositing it into his and stepping away. You straightened your clothes and beaded hair before turning towards the Mandalorian again. Your neighbor had said he had gotten hurt saving Ravi, but you didn’t see anything particularly wrong. He had caught you fairly easily, though it’s not like you were particularly tall or heavy. 

“You saved my sister, during the shootout. They said you got hurt. Are you... are you hurt?” He looked over his shoulder at you as he pocketed ammo and money from the dead bounty hunters.

“I’m fine,” You dug a soft booted toe into the dirt as you looked over the square. The silence stretched again before you mustered up some more courage and spoke again.

“... They took the ship...” You guessed his sigh must have been particularly annoyed for his modulator to have picked it up so loudly.

“Clearly,” He grumbled.

“... My father, he has a ship. It hasn’t been used in... ages, really. Some military deserter dumped it here and my dad has been working on it,” At this the Mandalorian finally turned around and looked at you, his helmet tilted slightly to the side. You had never felt more like a small animal being studied by a predator than in that moment.

“... What? Look I’ll be honest, this thing with the silence is very unsettling, and I can’t tell where you’re looking, and I have been through a lot today, so you can imagine the kind of stress I am under,” You eyed him warily and after a couple of minutes he finally released you from his gaze as he walked past you.

You sighed in relief and gave yourself a moment to pat yourself on the back, figuratively, and pat your chest to slow your racing heart, literally. Then, you turned on your heel and scurried after the small flick of cape that had just turned the corner. You fell into step with the masked bounty hunter, glancing at him from the corner of your eye every couple of steps.

“So...” You watched his helmet to see if he was listening, “How old are you? You seem young, but you could also be like... 40. It’s hard to tell with all of the armor, which I guess, is kind of the point,”

You were sure that his tense silence would be something that would follow you for the rest of your life. You nearly kicked yourself, a whole slew of questions to ask and you had picked that one. You wracked your brain for another question that was vastly less intrusive, but you were coming up short.

“... I’m not 40,” He finally answered, you weren’t sure if you were relieved by it or not.

“Huh? Oh! Yeah, that’s... good?” You could have literally swallowed your own tongue at this point and felt like it would have been to sweet a mercy for you. There were still ten minutes left on this little walk and by the moons, you were going to salvage this. You heard a modulated sigh, which was starting to become an expected response for every instance that you decided to opened your mouth.  


“I’m 23,” He glanced at you pointedly. 

It seemed like the Mandalorian was more merciful than you had anticipated to spare you from your misery by giving you a legitimate answer. You smiled softly to yourself, or maybe “Mando” just had a soft spot for kids.

Your father had been reasonably livid when the Mandalorian had turned up at the store with you in tow, since you had snuck out into a fire fight with a Mandalorian’s rifle. You were prepared for the punishment, even if it hadn’t dawned on you just how much trouble you would be in when you got back until the long mostly silent walk home. Nevertheless, you were ready as you stood next to your father, your arm in his grip as he lowered his original price in thanks for protecting both of his reckless daughters.

“This one,” You blinked up at the T-visored helmet as he tipped his head towards you, “She’s a good kid, good aim. Don’t be too hard on her,”

Your father gave you a look as you bowed your head in embarrassment, before looking back at the Mandalorian. He had ended up paying the original price, and they were now finishing up their transaction. You peeked up at him again as he shouldered the bag of ammo he had requested, but before he was able to turn and walk out you reached out and gripped his cape.

“Ah, wait!  _Baba_ ,  Mando’s crew turned on him and left him stranded here! I thought we could sell him that old patroller in the shipyard?” You looked up at your father shamelessly. You were already in a galaxy’s worth of trouble, you might as well keep your word and bring the idea up since the Mandalorian didn’t seem like he was going to. 

“ _Yena!_ ”

“What? He needs help! And he  saved  Ravi!” You ‘subtly’ winked at the Mandalorian still trapped in your grip.

“It’s an old Razor Crest, real sweet ride.  _ Baba’s  _ got it all tuned up and it hasn’t  really  flown in like _ages_. I bet _Mando_ here could get some good use out of her!” Your father looked down at you like he couldn’t believe you were really speaking right now. 

“... How much are you asking for her?”

You were sure that your father’s sigh had been heard across the galaxy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I re-formatted most of the chapters! In case you’re reading through again and things look weird! 
> 
> This is what I imagine Yena’s beaded hair to look like, but feel free to imagine whatever makes you feel the best! 
> 
> https://www.pinterest.com/pin/138415388523946409/


	3. Holding On, To Never Say Goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A parting gift and a timeskip.

* * *

_  
“It’s an old Razor Crest, real sweet ride. Baba’s got it all tuned up and it hasn’t really flown in like ages. I bet Mando here could get some good use out of her!” _

The sale of the Razor Crest went as well as it could have, considering the extenuating circumstances. And with the scuffle in the square having caused damage to most of the buildings in town, there was no way in Malachor the Mandalorian would be getting fuel before the suns set. His chances of finding a place to stay for the night were also slim to none since the ‘house’ he had holed up in during the shoot out had been the only inn in town.   


So, you bestowed upon him another tender mercy, and  _ convinced _ your parents to let your family’s savior stay in your brother’s room for the night. It wasn’t as if Osha was using it while he went on a supply run into the inner rim. Thus, that was how you found yourself in front of your brother’s closed bedroom door holding a tray of food for your sudden overnight guest.

“Mr. Mando— Uh, no. Mandalorian— Sir? Are you... decent?” Seriously? Decent? You would have slapped yourself if your hands weren’t full, “Uh, anyway, I brought you some food... I can leave it out here if that’s easier!”

The door opened unexpectedly and you looked up at that familiar visor. The silence stretched around you, despite knowing that this was just how he seemed to be, it was still unsettling to wait for him to say something. If he even saw fit to deign you with that honor. You held the tray out awkwardly until he gently took it from you with a mumbled ‘thanks’ and closed the door. Odell poked her head up from the stairs as you attempted to process the interaction that just happened.

“Did he take the food?” Her voice startled you out of your thoughts and you turned towards her to make your way downstairs for your own dinner.

“Yeah! Yeah, no big deal,” You nudged her with a foot to get moving so you could come down the ladder.

“How can you talk to him so casually like that? Aren’t you afraid?” Well, there was a thought. You weren’t afraid, per se. He was intimidating, of course, but he hadn’t given you any real reasons to to truly fear him. He caught you when you jumped, walked you home, stuck up for you with your father, all in all, the Mandalorian wasn’t truly a bad man. He just had an interesting profession.

“No, not really. He’s not so bad, he did save Ravi... and me too, I guess,” You smiled at the thought of him giving in and telling you his age. He wasn’t that much older than you either, you vaguely wondered what he could look like under his helmet.

“Yeah, yeah, I know. You and Ravi have only said it about thirty times each since you got back,” You both laughed as you stepped on the back of her boot, making your way to the dinner table for a welcome reprieve from a hectic day.

After everything was said and done and you were in your cot staring at the stars outside your window, you realized that this was probably going to be the most exciting thing to ever happen to you. Meeting a Mandalorian, how many people could say that they had? Or that they had a chance to repair and shoot his rifle? And tomorrow he would be flying off in a ship your family sold to him! And you would probably never see him again... 

You were out of bed before the thought had fully settled in your mind. Would he remember you, or this skughole backwater planet after he left? While you stayed here and thought endlessly about what adventures and planets he would see? While you thought and remembered him? You shook out those thoughts and went back to digging around in your desk, you had just finished the stitching on it and left it there. Searching in the dark made things infinitely harder even with the starlight streaming in, but soon enough you felt the soft leather and cool metal under your fingertips. You held it close and opened your door, staring out into the dark hall. Luckily, there were only three rooms on the second floor; yours, Osha’s, and Nari’s, and you were right in between them. 

“...Mando?” You rapped softly on the door and waited.

If he was sleeping and you woke him then he’d need time to put on his helmet. For once, the silence that stretched while you waited for a response was comfortable, if only for a little while. You almost knocked again when the door opened, the light from his window reflected on his helmet as he stood in front of you... in just his base clothes and a helmet. You swallowed thickly, it wasn’t like he was  _ naked,_ but the peek of bare hands suddenly had you thinking more about how his face looked.

“I... I wanted to give you this...” You held the small ammo belt lamely in front of you. Thinking about it now, as you stared at it and him, that it was much too small for him to use on his thigh as you had originally intended for yourself.

“It’s an ammo belt, well, for your thigh— well, my thigh, actually. It’s much too small for you now that I see it. We don’t get a lot of leather here, I couldn’t make a crossbody one, but I stitched it myself! A-and I wanted you to have it, it could... it could go around your calf! On one of your boots, it holds half a dozen rounds—“ His hand reaches out slowly, neatly plucking it from your hands without even grazing your skin. 

“... Thank you,” His voice was soft, as he studied your handiwork, “You...You keep doing things for me. The ship, a place to stay—“

“You’re the most interesting thing that has ever, or probably will ever, happen to me. This is the least I could do,” He looked at you now, helmet slightly tilted like he could figure you out if he just got the right angle. Finally, and with a soft chuckle, he bid you good night and gently closed his door again. 

The click of the lock had never sounded louder.

The Mandalorian had left early the following morning without so much as a second glance. You were glad you had snuck out of bed to say goodbye when you’d had the chance, but you hadn’t anticipated the lonely feeling in your chest at his absence. You had only known him a day, and you were sure that it was only the idea of him that was so interesting. However, as your eyes trailed across the sky from your rooftop, you realized that you were searching for him, for any trace that he had existed in the same space as you. But you knew you wouldn’t find anything. You knew he’d forget you and your family and this planet. And you knew you’d never see him again, in a galaxy as wide and vast as this. 

But you hoped, and maybe that would be enough. 

* * *

“Look here, you are asking me to do some serious work on this ship. This isn’t just a frilly cosmetic change, this is a major modification on a **_decommissioned_** Imperial starfighter. I’m sticking my neck out here for you, Moro. All I’m asking for is proper payment!” You nearly threw your welder at the Pantoran for trying to cheat you. 

“Come on, we both know I’m good for it—“

“No, no we do not, Moro. This is the last time I’ll say it. **Proper**. **Payment**. No money, no mods,” You pressed the butt of your welder into his chest, “Otherwise, get this Imp rust bucket out of my bay,”

You were sure you could still hear his grumbling over the roar of his propulsion jets. Good riddance, he had been your last client for the day and while you were desperate for money, there was just not enough incentive to trust Moro or his Imperial garbage. It was better to close up shop and hope for a better day tomorrow in this junk heap of a space station.

You looked around the sad little garage you had managed to rent out for work. You got a nice mix of clientele, from the earnest, to the cheats, but you were left alone. That was all you really wanted. You sighed and finished cleaning up, if you dawdled the cantina would close before you had a chance to try some of that ‘Port-in-a-storm’ the Pamarthen pilots kept bragging about.

It had been 5 standard years since you started working alone, and you were still just barely making ends meet, putting in long hours in your garage and working on the station’s maintenance crew. 

You rubbed a hand down your face, feeling dead on your feet as you turned down the halls, only to hear blaster fire. You picked up the pace, hoping that those laserbrains from Maugra-9 weren’t picking bar fights again and destroying machinery. It had taken you 2 months of work to repair the damage the last time they got into it with some other drunken flyboys. However, the sudden increase of people running towards you, towards the hangar, made a sudden feeling of dread drop into your stomach. Why did this all feel so familiar? You saw a fellow maintenance worker in the crowd and made your way over to him, his name was Rabbo, or at least you thought so... hoped so.

“Hey! Hey, what’s going on?!” You had to shout to hear each other over the panicked din of the rushing people.

“Those bounty hunters that came in last week seem to be going at it with a quarry,” Tabbo grabbed you and pressed you into the wall next to him to avoid getting dragged away by the crowd. 

“All this for a quarry? They know they’re not supposed to shoot inside the station!”

“Yeah, they do,” He grumbled to himself more than you, “Apparently, the quarry is a Mandalorian,”

Apparently, the quarry is a Mandalorian.

_ Apparently, the quarry is a Mandalorian._

_** Apparently, the quarry is a Mandalorian.**_

Those words rattled around in your head until all you could hear was their echo as it played in an endless loop. How long had it been since you had heard that name last? 8 years? 10? You moved without really seeing, knocking into nearly every straggler running your way until you were nearly sprinting. Was it even him, what were the odds? The sounds of blaster fire were nearly on you, you rounded a corner and pulled out your own from the holster on your thigh. 

“What the  _** fuck  ** _ did I tell you bounty hunting bastards when you docked your asses here?” It felt like every pair of eyes in that room turned towards you, “There is no blaster fire allowed inside the station unless you want to deal with me,”

“Who the fuck are you, then?” 

“Bitch, I’m the maintenance crew,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Baby Yena has a thing for older guys and Older Yena is ready to kick some ass! This is honestly my favorite chapter so far! I hope you guys are enjoying the story! 
> 
> Again, I changed the chapter formatting but the story is still the same!
> 
> Here’s what I imagined for Yena’s hair style now that she’s older and wilder— I mean, wiser.
> 
> https://ladollyvita33.tumblr.com/post/155348425323/vikings-style-lagerthas-battle-practice-hairy


	4. A Chance Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Are first impressions as lasting as they say?

* * *

_ “Who the fuck are you, then?” _   
  


_ “Bitch, I’m the maintenance crew,” _

You had told yourself repeatedly that you never wanted to find yourself in the middle of a firefight again, and for the most part you had succeeded since the incident in Kal’Tava. Mostly you were only ever there just for show with the rest of the maintenance crew and never had to fire against anyone. So finding yourself here, _yet again_ , for another Mandalorian who you weren’t even sure was the guy you were hoping he’d be, left a sour taste in your mouth. It could also have had something to do with all the blaster powder residue left over in the air, you mused. You quickly ducked under a table after firing at two of the guys who had decided to charge you when you made your grand entrance. You needed to get a grip, Mandalorian or not, these thugs were wrecking the station and Maker be damned if you were going to spend more than 2 months repairing this shit hole, **_again_**.

You reached behind you and plucked your second blaster from your waistband, just because you hadn’t needed to fight anyone didn’t mean you didn’t know how to. The Mandalorian’s first appearance had left quite an impression on you and for the first time you had found yourself looking a practical application for your father’s teachings on weapon maintenance and function. Now, 10 years later, you were vaulting on top of tables and shooting without hesitation, kicking drink glasses into unsuspecting faces, and pistol whipping assholes across the face.

“Put you blasters down, little girl,” You turned around and sighed, you were pretty sure you had told yourself that you never wanted to stare down the barrel of a gun again. 

“I don’t think you’re in a position to make demands,” You raised your hands lazily and dropped your blasters, you were out of ammo anyway, may as well play along.

“Oh really? I got the drop on you, and I have reinforcements, what do you have?” You peeked to the right and found the Mandalorian behind the bar with a bundle in his arms that you assumed must be either the payment or the quarry.

“A working knowledge of the ins and out of this space station,” Your eyes cut back to glare at the bounty hunter in front of you.

“Say Mando, you’ve got a flamethrower in that weapon’s arsenal right? With all this leftover blaster residue I bet we could make a nice little bomb in here. We could set this whole thing off and make it to a ship before you could ever say ‘Spotchka’,” You quirked an eyebrow at the way the mercenary’s smile dropped at your cold tone.

You caught the glint of a helmet turning your way from the corner of your eye. The bounty hunter in front of you wavered, and you knew there were four more around you and your beskar covered acquaintance. Technically, four versus two would have been manageable odds if you had a gun yourself. You feigned defeat and dropped your head, calmly but quickly trying to think of a plan and saw... an Amban rifle?

Your eyes widened and you turned to look at the Mandalorian in surprise, your Mandalorian carried an Amban rifle. You slid your boot under the rifle, kicking it up into your hands and tasing the guy in front of you. Flipping the gun over in hands swiftly, you gripped the barrel and swung the rifle into the head of guy behind you. The sound of blaster shots behind you rang in your ears as you noticed that the armored tin can had shot the remaining two stooges, and finally drew his gun towards your head.

“Are you another bounty hunter?” The cold modulated voice didn’t really give anything away, and honestly you could barely remember what he had sounded like to see if they were the same guy or not.

“Weren’t you listening?” You gave him a long exaggerated sigh as you dropped his rifle on the bar top, “I’m part of the maintenance crew. I work in this station and you and your little buddies are making my life miserable with your little shootout,”

You watched him hesitantly holster his gun and grab his rifle with one hand. He certainly wasn’t letting go of his little package, even as it... wriggled. Two massive green ears slid out from the blankets and a tiny green face peered over at you. Now, you’d seen a lot of weird shit, but this was new, and you knew this wasn’t a pet. No, those eyes were too focused, this was a child. Before you could stare longer, the Mandalorian wrapped it back up and pointed the tasered end of his rifle at your chest in warning. You lifted your hands up slowly, showing him you meant no harm.

“What is a Mandalorian doing with a child... way out here? Is this what they were all after, or are you?” Suddenly, he looked at you like he had finally noticed your face. His head tilted to the side as if he could just figure you out... if he got the right angle. Your thoughts faltered for a second before you quickly bent down to grab a dropped blaster and turned towards the door.

“Come on, I bet this guy wasn’t lying about reinforcements. It’s better to get to the hangar now, who knows when they’ll arrive—“ You lost your footing as a large tremor shook through the station and alarms began to fire off, “Like now, they could arrive now.  Shit! Come on, come on! Turn right at the hall!”

“If you lead us into a trap—“ 

“Why would I waste my time helping you if I was planning on trapping you? Have some faith, Mando,” You neatly shoved him into a hidden panel, “This is a shortcut through the station’s mechanical bay to the hangar. I’m assuming you’re in bay D since you just got here, right?” You led him through the winding scaffolding before nudging him through a door way.

“Turn here, hurry up. I’m sure the machinery won’t hold if we keep getting shot at,” You looked warily at some of the sparking consoles. 

You looked over at the Mandalorian again, this one couldn’t be the one you met long ago. The armor alone told you that, who could afford a full cuirass of beskar? The young buck who got deserted by his crew didn’t seem like the type and he certainly hadn’t had a jet pack hidden under his cape. An armor upgrade wouldn’t have been out of the question, except you had heard from many weapons dealers that beskar was hard to come by since the siege. You shook it off and pointed out the doorway that would lead you out. 

“Over there! Turn left and hangar bay D should be right in front of you. Which is one is yours....” You faltered as you stared up at your father’s pet project of nearly 10 years and watched as the Mandalorian jogged up the ramp right as another tremor shook the station. 

“Do you have a ship?” His voice shook you from your stupor.

“N-No, where did you get this ship—?”

“Why did you help me?” You stopped, and looked at him. 

Different armor...

Different cape...

Same boots... 

Same happabore leather ammo belt around his right calf...

“... You looked like you needed your rifle...”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Yena’s hopes have been fulfilled after 10 long years. 
> 
> How will Mando react to finding the “kid” from the store way out in space? Who knows... well, except me. What I can tell you though is that there will be a line, and Yena is very good at using it. 
> 
> By the way, our little Yena dear, now 25 years old has grown quite a bit, and changed a bit, and therefore has a hip new hairstyle to check out below. 
> 
> https://ladollyvita33.tumblr.com/post/155348425323/vikings-style-lagerthas-battle-practice-hair
> 
> If you’ve noticed the beads, then you’ve got a good eye and keep them in mind as the story progresses.


	5. A Risky Endeavor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old friends? New friends? No friends?

* * *

_ “Why did you help me?” You stopped, and looked at him. _

_ Different armor... Different cape... Same boots... Same happabore leather ammo belt around his right calf... _

_ “... You looked like you needed your rifle...” _

  
  


Boarding the Mandalorian’s ship had been mostly a blur. Your mind vaguely registered that he had pulled you aboard when the smoke and fire of the space station’s mechanical systems had finally given away. So now, after the flurry of trying to avoid enemy fire had led you both up into the cockpit, you found yourself reunited in silence with your good old friend, Mando. He held the green baby close as he steered the Razor Crest into hyperdrive, which looked difficult with the little womp rat grabbing everything within reach. However, you knew there was a greater chance of you dying of a heart attack at 25 than there was of the Mandalorian handing it over for you to keep an eye on for him.

You huffed a laugh to yourself at your own joke, looking out at the passing stars of hyperspace. You heard a trill and turned to see that the little green toddler had waddled up to you, tiny teeth peeking out from soft upturned lips. You smiled and reached out with grabby hands towards its belly, causing a peal of giggles to erupt from its little mouth, your own laugh slipping out at its reaction. It was nice to know that babies would be babies, regardless of species, it seemed. You went to pick it up when the Mandalorian suddenly moved and snatched it up again, you liked to imagine that he had given you a very dirty look under his helmet, it helped soothe the sting of not being recognized or acknowledged since you had boarded this old junk heap.

“You don’t recognize me... Do you?” You mused. He turned his faceplate towards you, as if to say ‘should I?’, and the sting grew into an ache.

“... I must have the wrong Mandalorian then,” You murmured and turned back towards the stars, giving your old parting gift one last look.

“You’ve met another?” His voice startles you into looking at him.

“Once... A long time ago,” You sighed.

“What are you planning to do with me?” Your question seemed to ring through the cockpit, your father always said you were too blunt, but it seemed that Mando needed some time of his own to decide the answer to that question for himself. He stayed so still that you wondered if he had fallen asleep or died from some hidden fatal wound, until he finally shifted and the modulator picked up on his heavy sigh.

“I’ll drop you off somewhere with a space port as a... thank you, for your help,” He had set the ship on auto pilot and now stood, towering over you, “But I don’t trust you,”

“That’s fair,” You replied, craning your neck and leveling him with a cool glare of your own. 

With a sweep of his cape he was out the door and down the ladder with the child in tow. You leaned forward in your seat and placed your head in your hands, a migraine forming behind your eyes. You knew it was him, the gods awful stitching on that ammo belt around his boot was definitely your handiwork, but he didn’t recognize you... and he didn’t trust you. But did it matter? It wasn’t as if you were sticking around, he was dumping you on some outer rim planet with a port as soon as you came upon it. You rubbed your hands down your face slowly, then sat up and sighed when you heard the telltale cries of an upcoming tantrum.

“You need to nap. No, don’t argue. You didn’t get one before we got to the space station,” The Mandalorian’s voice was soft, and as you made it down the ladder you noticed the little green fella babbling right back at him from a floating bassinet.

“You should pick him up and rock him,” You suggested. 

The Mandalorian ignored you, of course, continuing to rock the bassinet despite the baby’s exponentially increasing screams. You scoffed and walked closer, pulling a crate over to sit in front of the child. You smoothed a gentle hand over its cheeks and wiped their eyes, humming a soft lullaby your mother used to sing. You ran your fingers over its wrinkled forehead and down the bridge of its nose, smiling softly as it’s eyes began to droop, cries tapering down to soft whimpers and hiccups as it finally laid back in its bed. You were aware that the Mandalorian had drawn his blaster on you as soon as you had sat down, but you just weren’t the kind of person who could ignore a baby’s cries.

“... Do you have children?” The way his voice faltered at the question made you huff out a laugh.

“No, no. Just siblings, I helped my parents a lot with the younger two. I always liked being with the children,” You mused softly as the baby’s breaths evened out into a deep sleep. You stood up slowly and quietly, about to make your way back to the cockpit when the bassinet suddenly closed and you lunged forward thinking it had suddenly malfunctioned, trapping the sleeping child inside.

“The baby—!” You nearly screeched.

“I closed it. It’s soundproof,” He rasped in response and you turned to look at him, one hand resting on the now egg shaped basssinet and the other clutching at your shirt.

“Stars above, that scared me,” You sat heavily on your crate again as you buried your face in your hands.

“You said you worked on the station,” He took a seat across from you and drew his blaster again, this was very obviously not just a ‘getting-to-know-you’ question. You looked at him from in between your fingers and sighed.

“Yes, I was on the maintenance crew. I fixed wiring issues, and I had a couple of shifts in the mechanical bay. I also had my own garage and I worked on repairs and mods for weapons and starships,” You sat back and leveled an even gaze into his visor.

“You work security?” His voice was too sharp, calculating, it made you uneasy.

“No, maintenance only ever showed up as a bluff,” You replied.

“You know how to fight,” He said it with such confidence that you wanted to take it as a compliment, “Did that Mandalorian teach you?”

“Ha! No. He wasn’t around long enough for that,” You looked away and smiled wistfully. He seemed to be reaching, asking you all these questions, you wondered if maybe he was starting to remember you.

“You said that I ‘looked like I needed my rifle’,” Suddenly his voice was low, dangerous; the blaster still hovering between you. At least the barrel was aimed at your chest, you really were getting sick of having them shoved in your face.

“I also asked you if you recognized me,” You couldn’t help the snark that slipped into your voice, which was obviously a mistake as he suddenly cocked the gun.

“Cut the bullshit. Who. Are. You?” His voice was like steel and you honestly weren’t sure what he expected to get out of you, you hadn’t been working with those other bounty hunters if that was the issue.

“What, are you asking for an introduction? I’m no one, just some mechanic from a backwater skug hole, stuck in a shifty space station. Wrong place, wrong time,” You nearly growled at him, you weren’t really looking to start a losing fight with a pissed off Mandalorian.

“There’s only been one person who has said that line to me. She and her family were killed by the Red Key Syndicate,” He stood up and pressed his blaster against your chest, “So, I’ll ask again. Who are you?”

“... How do you know about that?” You felt cold all of a sudden, and your head swam as you looked up and met his visor. His blaster wavered for a moment, before slowly lowering. 

“... Kid?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little more background as what really happened to Yena for her to end up working in some broken down space station all alone, and Mando knows more than he’s willing to let on and share in one sitting. 
> 
> Also, Red Key Syndicate is canon so feel free to look them up just hang tight for next chapter!
> 
> I wrote this chapter 4 times before I was happy with what was happening, inspiration is such a fickle muse. 
> 
> If you want to hear what Yena’s lullaby sounds like here’s the song I envisioned while writing this chapter. 
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/track/0pV7ZNlSXRtleKtlKgnUlF?si=GrtVVfl5STW_HxamrUeNoQ
> 
> As always, thank you all for reading and let me know if you have any critiques or advice in the comments! Please be kind and keep on keeping on!


	6. What Happens Now?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Memories, all alone in the starlight.

* * *

_ “... How do you know about that?” _

_ His blaster wavered for a moment, before slowly lowering. _

_ “... Kid?” _

  
  


As you had grown, your relationship with silence had transformed from an awkward and stressful situation to a welcome occurrence. Then, as you began your work on the space station, silence turned into an expected and comfortable friend. But right now, this kind of silence was unbearable. The Mandalorian had sat back down heavily onto his crate, his faceplate never turned away from yours and now you had both been sitting in silence staring at each other for the past 15 minutes.  


“Mando...” You had finally mustered up enough moisture and courage into your mouth to swallow and say...  something.

“How did you survive?” He quickly interjected.   


Well, he certainly didn’t pull any punches. He could have at least eased you into this, you had only just come to terms with thinking that he had complete forgotten about you and your family.

“I was in Freetown four years ago and I was told it had been the only settlement to survive,” You scoffed and turned your head away from him harshly.

“That fake Mandalorian mayor, Vanth, made a deal with the Tuskan Raiders for protection. The cities were fine under what was left of the Hutts, but the other settlements had nothing...” Your hands fidgeted with the necklace peeking out from your work shirt.

“Your family?” 

“... They didn’t make it. I had been out on the dunes when they torched the town,” Your voice sounded empty even to your own ears. The last time you had spoken about the event had been to break the news to your sister.

“Only Odell and I remain, she’s on Chandrila with her husband and children. Osha... passed the year before due to smugglers, and everyone else died in the fires. Ravi was 15, and Nari was... 10,” You felt the leather of his glove on your face, wiping a tear you hadn’t realized had fallen.

“You... You don’t have to talk about it,” His voice sounded strained, even through the modulator.

“Yeah, well. That had been the intention,” You got up quickly and slid into the refresher before he could say anything else.

You fixed your eyes on your reflection, straightening your sleeves and shirt collar, hands hesitating on your necklace. It had been your father’s, the only thing you had left from them. Your fingers ran over the row of tiny black beads; you had salvaged and traded everything else you could to get a charter off the planet. You had only gone back home once since, and it was to give your old friend, Lorgan of the Red Key Raiders, a nice little parting gift of some dead flunkies in the desert. It had been five years now, the last you had heard was that the rebels, or the “new” republic, or whatever, had intervened and taken them all after some political conspiracy.

You shook the thoughts from your head, washing your face roughly and stepping back out into an empty cargo bay. The Mandalorian must have gone back up, surely you were close to finding somewhere to drop you off. You figured that he must have heard you coming because he was already facing you by the time you had made it into the cockpit. You had forgotten how disconcerting it was to look at a blank faceplate, his visor could have been looking at you or through you and you’d never know. His modulator picked up some static before he spoke; you smiled to yourself when you realized he had cleared his throat.

“Do you have a plan, once you’re on your own?”

“...Not really, no. Probably the Core worlds, more work available there than in the outer rim for someone like me,” You shrugged halfheartedly and cut your eyes back to him. 

You weren’t sure why, but you had a feeling that this was probably the most he had ever spoken to one person, or at least to you. Your last conversation on Tatooine had totaled maybe 10 sentences.

“Someone like you?”

“I  could potentially find work as a ship technician, but I usually just work on weapons and starship mods...” You trailed off and watched as he leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees. 

“Illegally,” Mando supplied what you had left unspoken, he was sharper than you gave him credit for.

“...Yes...” You dragged the ‘s’ out on the word hesitantly.

He was a bounty hunter, who knew if you had something on you code from some jerk you had refused work from. He turned back around and regained manual control as you fell out of hyperdrive.You lifted an eyebrow to yourself at the small interrogation he had just subjected you to, you didn’t figure him for the nosy type. You looked out the cockpit window at the stars around you for a minute before realizing that you weren’t moving.

“Would you like a job?” You looked over at the Mandalorian, who was already looking over at you.

“.... What?” You felt like you had just suffered from a small stroke, and you were sure that your face showed it.

“A job. Here. The Razor Crest needs work and... the kid , he likes you. I can pay you, until you have enough for a garage on Chandrila—“

“No,” You cut him off there,  “Not Chandrila. I’ll take the job, but when everything is said and done, do not drop me off on Chandrila,”

You could tell that your tone gave him pause, especially since you had literally just said that your sister and her husband currently lived there. He stared at you for a while and you returned it, until he finally gave you a nod and turned back to the console. You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding and turned to sit in the copilot’s seat. You noticed the little egg shaped pod floating in the corner and swallowed. It had been close to 15 years since you had last taken care of a child, and probably just as long ago since you had done any work on this type of gunship. You hoped it was like that old saying about how you never forget how to ride a speeder bike.

“All of my stuff was left on the station... Which was blown up,” You realized, a bit belatedly now that you thought about it, ”I’ll need to stop for supplies,”

“Fine. We can stop on Umgul,” You watched him turn to the nav-computer to plot a course and looked around again as you got up.

“Are we really in the mid rim already? Where are we even headed?” You leaned over the pilot’s seat to look at his star charts.

“The Unknown Regions,” You hadn’t realized how close you had gotten until his voice rasped near your shoulder and you backed away quickly before fully understanding what he had said.

“Wait, unknown regio— Are you insane?”

“We’re looking for his home world,” Mando gestured to the bassinet with a slight tilt of his head, “He’s my foundling, my...  _ aliit_. The Creed says to return him to his own,”

“... In the unknown regions...” You rubbed a weary hand over your face. 

“This is the way,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is kind of a heavy chapter at the beginning. Hope that the ending is light enough to balance it out! 
> 
> Yena dear has been through a lot over the past 10 years, and we’re mostly caught up with all of it. But don’t worry, we still have plenty of secrets left to hide. 
> 
> Also attached is the link for Yena’s necklace. Imagine black beads. 
> 
> http://www.completewermosguide.com/Pictures/Boston/Boston_SWexhibitAnakinNecklace.jpg
> 
> This is the way.


	7. Umgul City

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Never meet your idols, kids.

* * *

  
  


_ “He’s my foundling, my... aliit. The Creed says to return him to his own,” _

_ “... In the unknown regions...” You rubbed a weary hand over your face. _

_ “This is the way,” _

  
  


The stress headache you’d had forming since you got on the Razor Crest had finally crescendoed into a migraine. You rubbed your eyes and sat back down in the copilot’s chair, you hadn’t even been outside of the Outer Rim and this lunatic wanted you to go to the Unknown Regions. You lifted your head from your hands, intending on taking a quick nap in your chair only to come face to visor with the Mandalorian sitting in front of you. 

“Kriff! Would it kill you to make some noise?” You weren’t in the mood to be cordial and you were sure your face and voice had gotten that point across.

“There’s a cot to the right of the ‘fresher,” He pointedly nodded to the doorway leading down to the cargo hold.

“Thank the Maker, how long until we reach Umgul?” You hadn’t realized how tired you were until you tried to lift yourself up from the chair, a tired groan slipping from you lips.

“Long enough. Go on,” He turned back to the console and you assumed that was your dismissal.

You gave him a sarcastic salute as you walked out, which he surprisingly returned with his own rude gesture,  _without ever even turning around_.  You scoffed loudly and hurried down the ladder, feeling like you had distinctly remembered him being a lot nicer when you were younger.

“I guess it’s true what they say about never meeting your idols,” You grumbled to yourself as you crawled into the little cot for a well deserved nap.

* * *

Umgul City was a gambler’s paradise, the most famous and the most likely to be looking for a bounty hunter to make some quick money. It was honestly the best place to end up on after the debacle at the space station. You were already up and standing next to the hatch by the time he and the womp rat were stepping down from the cockpit. His landing had left a lot to be desired, and if he hadn’t essentially thrown you into the wall, then the busy sounds of the spaceport would have woken you up anyway. You smiled and made grabby hands at the baby cuddled up to his side, but the little bugger turned his head away and huddled closer into the Mandalorian’s armpit. 

“I guess he must still be tired,” You cooed softly, reaching out to gently pet his ear.

“Don’t fall for it, he’s been awake for almost two hours,”  _**Oh**_. Your face immediately fell and you leaned away from the baby slowly.

“Uh– He’s been particular with strangers... We got caught by some Imps on Nevarro. It’s nothing personal,” You watched him flounder as he tried to come up with an excuse.

Well, even if the kid ended up not liking you at least you got the opportunity to see a mildly flustered Mandalorian. You made a noncommittal noise and nodded, before lightly tapping on the hatch door with a knuckle.

“So we getting out of here... or?” 

Mando turned to you before placing the child into his bassinet, then he pressed the buttons near the door to open the door and lower the ramp. You groaned inwardly, as you watched him walk off on his own expecting you to follow like the bassinet floating behind him. So far this arrangement was going _spectacularly_. You were still sore with the Mandalorian for giving you the Devaronian finger, and the kid didn’t want to be anywhere near you since he woke up from his nap.  


You trudged along, watching the armored man weave through the crowds with an ease you had still to master even after living in a space station for the past 5 years. You struggled to keep up and it wasn’t until you were nearly ten feet behind that he seemed to remember that you existed and weren’t right behind him. At least he had waited for you to catch up. 

“Thanks for waiting,” You panted and grabbed a small holomap disk from a table near the railway entrance. 

You suddenly felt the Mandalorian’s hand on your back as he herded you in the right direction when some tourist suddenly veered off and knocked into you.

You scoffed and turned to the Mandalorian next to you, “So, hey, how do I get the baby to follow me?”

“I’ll stay with you,” He rasped dropping his hand, you peered up at him suspiciously as you stepped into the rail car. Did he not trust you with the kid? That was the main reason he had even hired you.

“I thought you’d be off looking for a job, this seems like a hunter’s paradise,” You both peered out the monorail windows at the lights and casinos shrouded in the mist below you.

“Better to stick close for now. Buy what you need and then I’ll find work,”

“Aye aye, captain,” You murmured sarcastically. You stopped and prayed to whatever deity was out there that the Mandalorian wouldn’t drop kick you out of his ship. 

Getting off the monorail had been a hassle, everyone seemed so desperate to get out of Mando’s way that they had separated the three of you multiple times. Also, finding a store that didn’t sell impractical and overexpensive clothing was harder than you had thought it would be. It had taken you an hour of wandering before you pulled the map out and decided to venture further from the main part of the city.

“... Maybe if we went to Ganterville? Anything with ‘ville’ in the name is usually a safe bet,” You tried to zoom in on the map to see what stores were available to sell supplies.

“Whatever you say, kid,” He sighed, he looked tense. Maybe it was the crowds, you guessed it was hard to protect yourself from other bounty hunters if you couldn’t see exit strategies or vantage points.

“I’m hardly a kid, I’m 25. And I have a name, if you have to call me anything at least call me ‘Yena’,” You messed with the map some more and tried to take the lead in directing this little expedition.

“Yena,” You turned and looked at him with big round eyes.

You thought you had been prepared to hear him say your name. Hell, you thought that maybe he would have made it a point to avoid saying it. But for a moment you felt 15 again, walking back home with the Mandalorian from your memories. He turned his helmet towards you and looked back and you couldn't help the disbelieving smile growing on your face. 

“This is the first time you’ve said my name,”


	8. Occupational Hazards

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bounty Hunting is an interesting profession.

* * *

_ “Yena,” You turned and looked at him with big round eyes.  _

_ “This is the first time you’ve said my name,” _

  
  


The rest of the shopping happened without much fanfare, which had been a blessing and a curse since you had to wallow in the knowledge that you had made a fool of yourself in front of Mando by acting like an awkward 15 year old. However, the worst part truly had to have been when he hadn’t said anything in return and had remained that way _for_ _the_ _entirety of the trip_.  You weren’t sure why you had said that to him, let alone said it out loud. It wasn’t as if he had said your name in any specific way, or in any way that should have warranted how your heart had clenched the way that it had. Regardless, he had led you and the baby back to the Razor Crest, very graciously carrying the majority of your bags. He then had made his way to the cockpit, leaving you and the little green guy in the cargo bay to stare at each other awkwardly before you sighed and began putting your things away. 

“Looks like it’s just you and me tonight, little guy. Are you hungry?” You looked down at it and snorted a laugh when youfound that the huge open mouthed smile he was giving you was probably the closest thing to ‘yes’ you’d get. 

“I’m going out. Don’t open the door for anyone, and don’t even think about taking the ship and the kid,” He orders as he clambered down the ladder and walked over to the open ramp.

“Hey! Wait, wait! Seriously? I risked my neck for you multiple times at the station, you still don’t trust me?” You tried to grab his arm to get him to turn around and face you, but he beat you to it and whirled around himself.

“You may be the girl from Tatooine, but there’s something you’re hiding,” He snatched his rifle from it’s rack and turned around again. 

“Well, if you don’t trust me then why are you leaving me alone with the kid? Why did you hire me at all?” You snapped and he rounds on you, all metal armor and sharp edges. You flinched and began to back up until you were flush against the cold paneling of the cargo bay wall and there was hardly a breadth of space between you.

“Because he can’t be with me on hunts, and because there is nowhere in this galaxy that you could run to where I wouldn’t be able to find you... ‘Kid’,” You swallow thickly and think that this whole menacing-get-in-your-space thing should not be doing it for you.

“W-What do I feed the baby?” You cursed yourself for stuttering, he pulled away and nodded to the small ration rehydration area in the corner.

“There are some frogs in the cryo storage,” You could hear the hesitation in his voice at the admission. 

“... Frogs, he eats—? Wait he is a ‘he’, right?” You blinked up at him in confusion, and he returned your stare for a solid 3 minutes before giving you a haphazard shrug and finally leaving.

So, now you were left standing, inexplicably hot and bothered, next to the kid as the ramp closed and the Mandalorian walked away from the Razor Crest. You swallowed again and gave the kid a funny face before picking him up, his giggling making a smile light up your face.  There wasn’t any time to stand around and worry about bossy Mandalorians, you had frogs to prepare. You just desperately hoped that you didn’t have to kill the little bastards. 

“Come on, kiddo. Let’s have some fun while _Baba_ is gone, hmm?” You gave a little hop and a tickle that had him giggling in your arms. At least the little thing was starting to like you.

Now, in your life, you’d had the pleasure of being able to say that you had seen some weird shit, but this kid really took the cake. Or the frog, you guessed. You had only just set the semi frozen frog down to figure out the least messy way of feeding him when you had heard definite swallowing sounds. You’d turned around and found the little monster with the frog most of the way down it’s throat. You had shouted something along the lines of ‘drop that!’ or ‘watch out!’ but you had been too slow and he had already swallowed the damn thing whole before you could do anything about it. You looked on in awe and horror as he simply burped and giggled before toddling off to play. You had never seen any of the babies you took care of or raised do that before, granted most were more humanoid than this little green guy, but you were sure that your sanity wouldn’t survive the night if he kept eating like that. He also seemed like he’d never settle down for the night with the way he kept trying to hide behind crates and running around every time you tried to catch him.

However, after a warm towel bath in the sink and all wrapped up in one of your softest sleep shirts, he had turned his big brown eyes towards you and buried his little head under your chin. In that moment you now understood how Mando had ended up adopting this little guy. You looked down at him, half asleep and suckling on the pendant that he had refused to let you take off during bath time, and you felt more like yourself than you had in five years. It felt like when Odell had come home from Chandrila for the first time and introduced you all to her first baby. You had held him in your arms and the feeling that there was so much that your future could hold had overwhelmed you to the point of tears. 

You blinked and you were back on the Razor Crest, half asleep with the baby on your chest as you sat propped up against a crate with an old tarp you had found. You sat up slowly and wondered when Mando would end up coming back, or if he’d come back to let you know that he had found a job, or if he would just leave you here for days awaiting his return like the sad lovesick women in some of the stories your _Mena_ would read. You sighed softly and made your over to the kid’s bassinet, he looked so content to sleep on you though... maybe just this once you could you both share the cot. 

* * *

It had been five days... Five. Days. Since Mando had left you and the kid on the ship alone. It had also been five days of you having to pay the space port attendants from your own dwindling stash of credits for taking up a docking bay for more than two days. You were starting to run low on food too but you didn’t feel comfortable going into town with the kid and you definitely did not feel comfortable leaving the kid on the ship by himself. Also, the ship was neat enough but you definitely needed to talk to Mando about baby proofing when he got back... Because he  _** was  ** _ going to come back. In the mean time, you had finagled a baby sling out of a blanket and had been able to run diagnostics on the Razor Crest while listening to baby talk and slurping sounds for the entirety of the afternoon. You had ended up being able to improve the hyperdrive efficiency by an additional 13 percent _**and**_ you had fixed one of the leaking hyperlinks. So, while she wasn’t exactly in her prime, the Razor Crest was doing pretty good for her age.

By the end of the day the baby had gone down without too much trouble and you had snuck away from his hold in the cot to see if maybe you could hail the Mandalorian on his commlink from the Razor Crest’s communications system. You had wanted to do this after day three had passed, but you both had left things on weird terms; the last thing you wanted was to make him lose a quarry. You had just stepped into the cockpit when you heard the cargo bay doors open, you clambered down the ladder and ran to the ramp. You were ready to give him an earful for not warning you or preparing you for five days alone on the Razor Crest with the baby, but by the way he was pushing and dragging his bounty you figured it’d be best to keep your mouth shut. It seemed that he hadn’t seen you originally, because he had nearly missed a step when he finally did. It was at that moment that you realized that you had greeted him at the entrance of the ship in only a large sleep shirt of his that you had found under your cot, and long, loose hair. 

“Get inside,” He was nearly growling by the time he had made it up the ramp and had all but shoved you and the bounty into the cargo bay. 

“Come on, Mando! I can get you way more money than this bounty is asking for! Maybe even enough to buy yourself a matching slave to go with this one—!” Mando’s response was to punch the guy in the throat and shove him into the carbon freezer. 

“What are you doing up?” He grit out, you merely scoffed at him.

“Me? I heard the ramp and came out here to ream you out for leaving the kid and I here alone. We’ve been waiting to see if you’d even come back at all!” You shoved his chest harshly, “You could have at least radioed in,”

“This. Is. The. Job. It took 3 days to track this asshole out in the moors with all this mist and I still have to deliver him to Dargul to get paid,” He knocked your hands off of chest before pushing past you to the cockpit. 

“This better have been worth the money! I used up most of what I had to pay for the stupid docking space fee,” You yelled up at him from the ladder.

The only response he granted you was the jolt of the Razor Crest taking off. 

_**Prick**_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yena and family aren’t originally from Tatooine. Yena’s father is from Coruscant and mother is from a small community on Rinn. Most of the terms she uses to refer to her parents are from her mother. The beads she wears are ceremonial and all of the women in her family have them. 
> 
> Baba - father
> 
> Mena - Mother


	9. Tome (adv.) : Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Living together, growing together, just being together.
> 
> That’s how it starts.

* * *

_ “This better have been worth the money!” _

_ The only response he granted you was the jolt of the Razor Crest taking off. _

_ Prick. _

  
It was obvious to you that he was just going to stay up there until you arrived on Dargul and you were entirely too tired to pursue another confrontation with him at the moment. So, you just shuffled back to your cot and gently laid back down with the baby resting on your chest. You’d deal with Mando later, even though you were sure you’d find him just as ‘agreeable’ in the morning as you’d found him tonight. You hadn’t intended on him seeing you in this particular... state of dress, and you hadn’t thought that he’d be bringing the bounty on board. Still, he’d punched the guy in the throat for your honor, in a sense. You guessed you could kind of understand where he was coming from, he was protective at least. You buried yourself closer to the little guy next to you and tried to settle down for another couple of hours of sleep.

“Hey! Kid? Kid—! ...  _ Fuck _ ,” You jolted awake at Mando’s rude wake up call, the poor kid nearly tumbling off the bed. Hadn’t you just closed your eyes to sleep?

You blinked blearily at the shadow in your doorway, your brain was desperately trying to put things together. Why was Mando at your door in the middle of the night?

You leaned over to look out the door at the light coming in from the open ramp door, ok so not the middle of the night. You cut your eyes back over to the Mandalorian at your door, currently trying to not look anywhere near your direction. Well, that didn’t make sense, he’s the one who had barged into your room and now he wouldn’t even look at you or talk to you. You scoffed, pulling your legs over the side of the cot and... and then... feeling the cold metal edge of the base against your almost bare ass. 

Oh.

_**Oh**_.  


You whirled your head over towards him and saw him flinch as he hastily looked away again. Your face felt hot and when you looked down to find some pants you realized that the neck of the shirt had also opened at some point during the night and now you were all but giving out a free show of the goods. You floundered for a bit until finally it felt like some sense broke through the wave of embarrassment that had crashed over you and you grabbed the kid to hide your chest.

“Didn’t you get enough of a show last night? Get the hell out of here!” 

You clumsily reached for your pillow and threw it at his head. He ducked and finally scrambled out of your room. It would have been hilarious if you hadn’t been completely mortified.

You huffed out a disbelieving laugh, this was just perfect. A rough week and an extra rough night finally ending with you essentially flashing your Mandalorian employer. You shuffled around the tiny room, the kid sitting patiently on the cot, as you got dressed. You didn’t have enough time to do your hair today, so you settled for just brushing it and a single plait down the back. Mando had come in here for a reason, and though your sleep addled self hadn’t registered what he had barged in for, it was probably best to hurry up and find out why. You opened the door panel and placed the kid on the floor to walk around. Unsurprisingly, Mando was already waiting for you at the small stack of crates you had fashioned into a table. 

“I was looking for the kid. I didn’t realize he was sleeping with you,” His voice cut through the silence and you sighed, sitting heavily on a crate.

“He kept waiting for you by the cargo doors. It was the only way to make sure he slept through the night,” You ran a hand over your face and heard him make a small noise of understanding. You cleared your throat and decided to ask despite already knowing the answer.

“... Did you see anything?” You asked timidly.

His lack of implied eye contact and complete silence told you enough.

“Did you at least get paid for the bounty?” You sighed.

“We should be fine for now to continue on to the unknown regions,” He began to shuffle around and you looked up right as he was standing up to leave. You reached out quickly and grabbed his wrist, which he returned by grabbing yours... and nearly breaking it.

“Hey! Hey, ease up! I was just trying to stop you from leaving!” You pushed on his hands and backed away.

“We need to talk about this arrangement, maybe even set some boundaries here. You can’t leave for five days again without ever calling in. Or-or without making sure that we have enough food or money to not get kicked out of the space port for overdue fees!” You threw a hand towards the dwindling supply of food in the corner.

“That wasn’t on purpose—“

“And I don’t know what last night was about but you don’t get to come back here and take your frustrations out on me!”

“I’m sorry,” His apology stole some of the angry fire you’d had building up since he had left. You were both quiet for a few beats until you finally cleared your throat again and looked away from him. 

“... I appreciate your apology,” You mumbled in response. 

You both sat silently for a bit longer, you were waiting to see if he had anything else to add, but the kid had other plans with his constant tugging at your sleeve. This was probably the most you’d get out of him about this situation. You grabbed the baby and made you way to the food, rummaging for something soft enough for him to eat. 

“Are we still on Dargul? We need more food. The kid’s clothes could also use some attention... or replacement,” You casually tossed over your shoulder, it was time to try and move past all of this. 

“Alright, we’ll head out when you’re both done,” He replied.

He had already been half way to the cockpit when he stopped and turned back to you.

“You... did good work on the ship,”

You looked up at him blankly when you realized that he had actually complimented you. You flushed and smiled, looking back down to keep feeding the baby, and burning the sound of his soft chuckle into your memories for... reasons. You hoped that this interaction was going to be the beginning of a turning point between the two of you.

“You should probably consider wearing different sleep clothes if you insist on walking around the ship, though,” He remarked suddenly, making your once innocent blush feel ten times hotter as you whirled around and gaped at him.

Your hand closed around a nearby ration bar that you fully intended to throw at his head. A short bark of laughter filtered through his vocoder, making you groan in frustration.

“Maker! You’re such a  _peedunkey!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yena can speak a couple of languages, but her most prominent besides Galactic basic is Huttenese. Which makes sense for growing up on Tatooine.
> 
> Peedunky - Punk


	10. Plot the Course

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Cue Wookie noises*

  
  
  


* * *

_ Your hand closed around a nearby ration bar that you fully intended to throw at his head. A short bark of laughter filtered through his vocoder, making you groan in frustration. _

_ “Maker! You’re such a  ** peedunkey ** !” _

  
  


Despite a rocky morning, you had all managed to get into the city and buy food and new clothes for the kid, all without spending all of Mando’s hard earned credits. Tatooine may have been a real shithole but it taught you how to haggle like the best of them, and you had made sure to throw Mando a sly wink when you had walked away from a stall with two months worth of rations for only a quarter of the price. Truly, it was kind of a point of pride for you to be able to ~~_argue_~~ _barter_ your way into half priced goods. All in all, by the time you had all settled in on the Razor Crest, it seemed that you and Mando were both in relatively good moods. You had even managed to convince him to spend some down time on the cargo hold floor with you and the kid as you taught him how to playpeekaboo.

“So, does this little guy have a name? I don’t think I ever heard you use one and I feel bad for calling him ‘tiny green baby’ in my head all the time,” You looked over at him right as he spun a small vibroknife between his fingers. 

“No, not that I know of,” He mumbled as he watched the baby’s little hands try to cover and uncover it’s face.

“So how did you end up with a baby anyway? I know you’re not green under there, so he’s obviously not yours,” You chuckled and grabbed the baby’s hands to teach him how to clap. 

“... He was a bounty, they told me he was fifty years old,” He twirled the knife again and you were beginning to think it was a subconscious tic, “I was expecting an old man, not a baby,”

“He’s fifty?!” You picked the kid up quickly and pressed your foreheads together, and he reciprocated the action by pressing his palms into your eyes. Thanks. 

“Well, I mean, I guess he does kind of look like a baby... that’s also a grandma,” You blew a zerbert on his belly while you had him in your grip and his squeals of laughter echoed around the cargo hold. You laughed and set him down so he could toddle over to the Mandalorian, who was very quickly putting away his knife before the kid made it over. 

“So you ran away with the ‘bounty’, then. And that’s why those hunters were after you on the station. I guess you’re still the same, Mando,” You leaned back on your hands and watched him bounce the baby on his thighs. 

“The same? What do you mean?”

“You still have a soft spot for kids,” You smiled as he seemed to pause, “Anyway, the kid should have a name,”

“All of the popular names on Tatooine are in Huttese and they’re all terrible, what are some Mandalorian names?” You asked as you reached over with your leg and nudged him. 

“I... don’t know, I’m not from Mandalore. I’m a foundling, like him,”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know,” You brought you legs back in and fiddled with your boot buckles as silence fell over the three of you. 

“... How about a Wookie name?” You laughed, you were a bit rusty but managed to get something reminiscent to ‘Drlukkyyyllaumgrist ’.

“You know Wookie?” Aha! He was impressed. 

“Yes, I met one on the station who taught me some Shyriiwook. I took it upon myself to learn more,” You laughed, “It’s terrible for your throat though,” 

You cleared your throat and tried to make it through the Wookie battle ballad that Lumpawaroo had taught you three years ago. Mando had reasonably asked you to stop after the first three verses. But you could kind of tell he was trying to keep from laughing. 

“Did that cheer you up?” You asked him after another bout of silence passed and you watched as his head turned up to meet yours. 

“Yeah... yeah it did,”

“Good,” You laughed and made your way over to grab the baby from him, “Well, Drlukkyyy and I will go make dinner. Where are we headed to next?”

“We are not calling him that,” He rasped, “I’m going to look over the star charts in the cockpit. I’ll let you know,”

“I know Kashyyyk is in the opposite direction, but at least you’d already have a translator!” You laughed up at him as he climbed into the cockpit and added a Shyriiwook farewell for good measure. 

His angry silence only fueled more of your giggles as you purred and growled at the baby for the duration of dinner.

* * *

“Hey, I brought you dinner... Drlukkyyy is already asleep,” You chuckled at his deep resigned sigh.

“You can just leave it there,” He waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the copilot’s seat.

You set the tray down and walked over to study the charts over his shoulder. 

“The last real spaceport before Wild Space and the Unknown Regions is on Bakura,” You pointed out.

You reached around him and pointed to the small sector on the chart, accidentally settling a hand on his shoulder to trace a hyperspace lane between Dargul and Endor. You had heard a bit from the pilots that stopped by your garage that it had been used by the empire and then the rebels essentially stole it. He nudged your hands away, before recalculating for a different planet farther out.

“I know what I’m doing,” He grit out.

“I was just trying to help. I’ve heard Salis D’aar is a good place to stock up on fuel,”

“It’s also a regular hang out for New Republic pilots and politicians,” He bit back, “and in case you haven’t noticed, I’m a wanted Mandalorian bounty hunter with a wanted Imperial asset,”

“You don’t have to snap at me,” You we’re trying really hard to not take the same tone with him in retaliation.

“Endor and its moon are surrounded by the debris from the battle. The rebels cleared out and the natives are mostly primitive. I can also speak Yuzzum, so we can barter with the locals” You tapped Endor on the chart and turned to walk away, “I don’t think it would kill you to be a little nicer to me,”

You heard static from his vocoder, you guessed that he had sighed.

“Wait. Stay... Please,” He turned his chair towards you, gesturing for you to sit in the copilot’s seat, “How many languages do you know?”

“Just three fluently; Huttese, Yuzzum, and Shyriiwook. I can stumble my way through Jawa, but I hate those bastards,” You picked up his tray of food, realizing that he couldn’t eat in front of you but he had been the one to invite you to stay.

“The Razor Crest got stripped by some Jawas on Arvala-7. I’m not too fond of them either,”

“Ah, that explains why the wiring looked like it had just been replaced,” You chuckled and he got quiet again.

“Endor is a good idea,” He mumbled after a couple of minutes and you smiled softly at him.

“That must have been painful for you to admit, huh?” You teased.

“Excruciating,” He chuckled in response. You liked his laugh, you realized, even through the filter. You hoped that you would get to hear more of it. You hoped he’d let you get closer to him. 

“Hey, would you teach me that knife trick you were doing earlier?” You asked tentatively, he tilted his helmet to the side, as he usually did, whenever you asked him something.

“Sure,”

But most of all, you hoped that he was smiling at you underneath his helmet.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a bit of a slower chapter, mostly used it for set up. I wanted to say that I have so appreciated everyone’s responses and comments on this story! Y’all are awesome and I can’t thank you enough for tuning in!
> 
> P.S. The joke about baby Yoda looking like a baby and a grandma came from this post!
> 
> https://clickbaitcowboy.tumblr.com/post/189118969714/i-dont-care-about-starwars-but-i-care-about-them


	11. Are We There Yet?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coona tee-tocky malia?

_ “Hey, would you teach me that knife trick you were doing earlier?” _

_ “Sure,” _

_ But most of all, you hoped that he was smiling at you underneath his helmet. _

The two of you had ended up sitting in the cockpit working on knife tricks for at least two hours, with you occasionally belting out the chorus of the Wookie battle ballad whenever you managed to spin the blade more than once. You kept trying to teach Mando how to sing it but he just kept telling you to ‘focus on the blade whenever it was in your hand’. However, you could tell you were wearing him down, and when he  finally  let out a chuckle at your antics you caved and told him the truth that you were just desperately wanting to hear the song through the filter of his vocoder.

“That’s not going to happen,” He plucked the knife from your hands and showed you a more complicated trick.

“Oh come on! Don’t you want to add Shyriiwook to your dossier of languages?” 

“I’ve got you for that,” He had said it so simply that you hadn’t noticed you were smiling until your began cheeks hurt.

“ _Fine_.  How many languages can you speak then?” You absentmindedly grabbed his hands to slow the movement of the knife between them.

“Enough,”

“That’s not a real answer. Am I supposed to guess?” You gave him a teasing smile.

“You can try,” He handed you the knife and leaned back in his chair, his voice sounded like he was smiling. Or maybe that was just you hoping he was.

“You... speak Hutt. As a bounty hunter I feel like you kind of have to,” You reasoned as you attempted the move he had just taught you, effectively dropping the knife after the first flip. 

“I learned some,” He let out a noise resembling a snort when the knife ended up flying across the room at your next attempt.

“Hmm... Bona nai kachu! Bona kee nyowkee koo chooskoo,”

“Cha skrunee da pat,” He snarked.

You barked out a laugh, “That’s more than just ‘some’. You can speak Mandalorian as well, right?”

“Mando’a,” He corrected, grabbing the knife and tossing it back to you.

“Ah, yes. Of course,” You smiled and began to flip the knife again, “... Durese?”

“No”

“We’ll be here all night at this rate. Just fess up— Ha! I did it!” You caught the knife after it soared through its final arc of the trick and held it up triumphantly.

“Good job,” He chuckled and held his hand out towards you, “... I can speak Dosh, and I know Tuskan sign language,”

Your eyes locked onto his visor as you handed him the vibroknife. Your fingers tingled when they brushed against the leather of his gloves.

“You can speak to the Sand People?” Your voice sounded small.

He paused and ticked his helm towards you, “Only to trade for safe passage across their territory,”

“Could you teach me that too?” You asked softly.

He chucked you gently under the chin; his tone of voice, low and soft, matched yours.

“Sure thing, kid,”

You woke up disoriented, your face scrunched up as the room started to get considerably brighter, fully waking you up as you started to pickup on the sounds of the bustling city. You sat up and rubbed your neck, you were incredibly sore and you realized why when you saw that you had ended up sleeping in your chair in the cockpit. You didn’t remember falling asleep, or grabbing a blanket. You rubbed the thick material between your fingers and realized it was the Mandalorian’s cape, the wrinkled folds of where he had tucked it into his cuirass gave it away. You had the material pressed against you nose before you could tell yourself no; it smelled like musk and blaster smoke, warm and masculine, and it made you a little lightheaded.

Now, you knew that you were inexplicably attracted to the Mandalorian, nevermind the fact that you had never seen his face. However, despite some of the recent and, uh... _interesting_ interactions between the two of you, you had chalked up any questionable feelings to him being your old teenage infatuation. But, after last night, and your current state with your face buried in his cloak, you weren’t really sure that was all there was to it anymore.

You could feel the heat in your face grow exponentially as soon as you heard him shuffling up the ladder, and you were still holding the damn thing in your hands. You scrambled around in your chair trying to figure out what to do with the cape when you finally just dropped it onto your lap and fake stretched as he walked into the cockpit with the baby. The child cooed as soon as he saw you and leaned out of the Mandalorian’s arms for you to grab him. It was nice to know he had bonded with you, five days alone with just the two of you probably helped though. Even in two of those five days were spent throwing tantrums and making suspiciously bigger messes than you expected out of such a tiny thing.

“Good morning, did I oversleep?” You smiled and gently ran a hand over the baby’s ear as Mando began to pilot the ship out of Dargul.

“You’re fine. Diagnostics says that both the transpacitor and the hyperspace shunt malfunctioned,”

“Really? I can probably go fix it now—“ You gestured over your shoulder to the ship’s mechanics.

“They melted,” He replied flatly.

“... You’re right, I can’t fix that. What’s the plan then?” You looked around as the Razor Crest broke through the atmo. 

“The space port asked around and none of the mechanics here carry the model we need,” He sighed, “But a mechanic on Onoam said that he carried both parts,”

“Onoam? Is that far?”

“It’s one of Naboo’s moons. Without a functioning hyperdrive, it’ll take us 3 days,”

“Three? Wow,” You grimaced at the prospect of entertaining the kid inside the ship without getting space cabin fever again.

You got up slowly and stiffly, intending to head down to the cargo bay. You had decided that the only way this trip would end with everyone on board keeping their sanity would be by starting it with a meal. You grabbed Mando’s cape and draped it over the back of his chair.

“Thank you, for letting me use it,” He glanced back at you and nodded, before focusing back on the controls. You hesitated to leave, though, there was a nagging thought that had worked it’s way into the back of your mind since you woke up.

“... Did you end up eating last night?” You asked.

“I did. I ate in the hold after you fell asleep,” He mentioned it so casually that you almost didn’t realize what that had actually meant. 

“Wait... wait. You didn’t get to eat until nearly half way into the sleep cycle? And where did you sleep? The only cot is downstairs where the kid sleeps and I stole the cockpit... did you even sleep?” You sat down heavily and put one of your hands on his chair to try to get him to look at you.

“It’s fine. This is the Way,” He rasped and you felt your shoulders slump.

“That’s not– We need a new way then. I– I should have paid more attention, I’m sorry,” You watched as he stilled, then clicked the switch for the autopilot and finally turned in his chair to look at you.

“I hired you to take care of the kid... not me,”

“But... I feel bad, I invited myself into your space and—“ You furrowed your eyebrows when he held out a hand to stop you.

“You didn’t,”

A heavy sigh left your lips as you looked at him, “... We should still figure something out for the sleeping arrangements,”

“I agree,” With that, he turned back to the controls. You took that as your dismissal and made your way to the door, Mandalorians were a little moody. Nice one moment, distant the next.

The baby had been very patient with the two of you, but it seemed he’d had enough as he started to fuss and wriggle in your arms. You hurried out of the cockpit, apologizing gently to the hungry green tot is your arms. 

This trip was already getting off to a great start.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Huttese Translations!
> 
> Coona tee-tocky malia? - What took so long?
> 
> Bona nai kachu! Bona kee nyowkee koo chooskoo - You're in trouble now! You’re lucky I found you first
> 
> Cha skrunee da pat - Don’t count on it


	12. The Forest Moon of Endor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Razor Crest can have a little blaster fire, as a treat.

_ This trip was already getting off to a great start.  _

You took it back, the trip hadn’t even been that bad the first two days. Sure, the baby had magically levitated one of the guns from the top rack of the ‘closed’ weapons locker while you had stared on and wondered if you were having a stroke.You could admit that you had been a little bit hysterical while Mando had calmly explained that the baby just did that sometimes, and that this was why he was taking him to his people... 

_His people who were all possibly a part of an ancient group of sorcerers who had existed before the wars._

However, all of those suspiciously huge messes and your tools appearing in his hands while he had been strapped to your back had suddenly made more sense. You just still needed some time to wrap your head around it, and had ended up just staring blankly at Mando and the baby for a few minutes, before nodding your head and getting up to finish soldering the wires you had been working on. You hadn’t seen  weirder things than this, but Drlukkyyy owned your heart and soul at this point and if this was what he did on occasion, then you’d just have to get creative about keeping him from getting into shit.

So, other than the occasional levitating, and having to literally shove the Mandalorian into the newly dubbed ‘sharing’ cot for the past two nights... Things had gone by splendidly compared to right now, when a bounty hunter had come in out of nowhere and kept trying to blast you all into oblivion. You had been so close to Onoam too, the three of you had been sitting in the cockpit and you had literally just pointed out that Naboo looked like it was only half a parsec away according to navigation.

“ _Mando! What’d ya do to get the Imps after ya? Why don’t we make this easy and hand the asset over_?”  A staticky voice rang through the cockpit.

_ So close._

“I thought Naboo was part of the New Republic?” You closed the doors to the baby’s bassinet right as the Razor Crest took on fire. The last thing you wanted was for the kid to go flying out.

“It is, but Imperial sympathizers are always trying to get it back,” Mando grit out as he made a quick maneuver that sent you stumbling towards him.

You gripped tightly to the back of his chair as he made another swerve to avoid blaster fire.

“But this is a bounty hunter not an Imperial starship—!” You yelped and fell forward grabbing into one of his shoulder pauldrons.

“Who do you think paid him?” He grabbed your arm and wrapped it around his neck and shoulders before rolling the Crest to the right and using the planets gravity to slingshot back towards the mercenary.

“Looks like you won’t get a chance to cash in on that bounty,” Mando growled in response to our pursuer as he shot them down and flew us back around to land on Onoam.

“Does this happen often?” You asked meekly, a long sigh stuttering out of your lungs.

“Bounty Hunters? Yes,” He gave your arm a gentle pat and you blinked and unwound it quickly from his shoulders. You muttered a quick apology as you sat back down in your forgotten seat.

“Do they happen less with a functioning hyperdrive?” You cleared your throat carefully and fastened your seatbelt.

“Yes,”

“Then let’s go. I’ll pay for the damn parts myself,”

Since Mando had gotten the direct coordinates for the mechanic’s garage, your landing had been relatively smooth. You and Drlukkyyy were more than eager to step out of the ship onto solid ground, Mando going on ahead to meet with the mechanic while you followed the baby’s trail into the tall grass. He had made sure to pull you aside discretely and press a blaster firmly into your palm before walking away, if he noticed the way your face flushed you were glad that he hadn’t mentioned it.

You followed dutifully behind the child, occasionally ducking down in the grass and tickling one of his ears when he wasn’t looking. You noticed that most of the area was open plain, with only a few estates scattered around, and wondered how much of it was private property. You tilted your head back and marveled at the pink skies as you took a deep breath. You’d only been to a handful of worlds since you had gotten off Tatooine; Naboo had been one of them when you had caught an outgoing shuttle for a brief vacation. That had been your first time seeing grass, but it seemed that Drlukkyyy had already experienced the marvels of humidity and real foliage.

“Hey! Yena!” You turned found Mando waving back you over. You hadn’t realized that you and the kid had wandered so far from the ship.

“Hang on, we’re coming!” You picked the baby up and made your way back, jogging the last stretch.

“Hello, thank you for holding the parts for our ship,” You extended a hand to the mechanic as Mando walked away.

“Greetings! The Mandalorian mentioned the need to attach an additional cot, is there somewhere specific you were wanting that on the ship?” He was a rather portly man, a Mythrol, but he had a kind face.

You gestured vaguely towards the Razor Crest cargo hold, “Wherever it fits, I’m not picky. Just attach some ceiling tracks around it if you have them, I’d like to add some curtains,” 

“How long will this all take?” Mando asked as he popped up behind you, startling you and the mechanic.

“Well... replacing the hyperdrive parts won’t take very long but the cot needs to be attached and welded, same for the ceiling tracks,” The Myrthol scratched at his chin as he talked, Drlukkyyy imitating the motion.

“Yena can replace the hyperdrive equipment,” Mando reached over and grabbed the kid from your hands and ticked his helmet down to the parts in the box next to the mechanic.

“Oh! This is very sensitive equipment not just anyone—“

“I know how to do it, I was a mechanic on a space station for five years. I’ve replaced plenty of hyperdrive shunts and transpacitors,” You walked over and grabbed the parts, heading back towards the ship.

You could feel the sense of urgency Mando was trying to get across. You couldn’t afford to stay here for very long, and obviously the Imps already knew you were in this sector. Besides, Mando had already removed the melted parts so you had ended up finishing pretty quickly and joined them on the Crest to grab ‘His little Green-ness’ so he wouldn’t get into mischief. The mechanic had reviewed your work and complimented you on your efficiency before accepting your credits and thanking you both for your patronage. He really had been a nice man, it was rare to find those these days you mused. You made sure to give him a wave as you lifted off and closed the hatch. You sighed in relief, you were all finally on your way to Endor.  


“It’s going to take us another 3 days to get to Endor,”

_**Fuck**_.

“Seriously? What about the hyperdrive?”

Mando turned to look at you, “This trip would take at least two years without it,”

“I’m going to lose my mind,” You groaned and ran your hands over your face. 

“Not much of a spacer, are you?” He mused. You shot him a half hearted glare as the Crest made the jump to hyperspace.

“I’ve only flown a handful of times, and nothing longer than a day. The station moved every year and I’d only get shuttle transport privileges every other year,”

“You should get out more,” You scoffed loudly and grabbed the baby from the floor, letting him play on your lap.

The first jump from Naboo was to Sullust, the first access point to get onto the Sanctuary Pipeline. From there the Razor Crest jumped onto the hyperlane and you would all be set for the next three days. At least the Mandalorian was available to watch the child with you, since he didn’t need to keep as careful of an eye on the ship while you were in hyperspace. Maybe you’d take advantage of his attention to learn more from him. You were debating on asking him if he’d teach you how to fight with a knife, or just fighting in general, but only if the kid didn’t hog him for the entire trip. Apparently the little guy had been feeling neglected with the way he clung to the Mandalorian’s armor as if his life depended on it. You heard them playing in the cargo hold and smiled as you stared up at the whizzing lights flying past you from the cockpit. 

At least space was beautiful.

* * *

“Hey, wake up. We’re here,” Mando’s voice almost sounded gentle, maybe he felt bad that you had stayed up most of the night when the kid wouldn’t stop crying. 

“Hmm? We’re where?” You opened your bleary eyes and looked around. 

Soft green light filtered through the cockpit window and you would have fallen back asleep if it hadn’t been for the insistent hand shaking your shoulder. You groaned and opened your eyes again with a sigh and sat up. 

“I need you,” Your heart nearly stopped when you heard Mando’s voice say that. 

You had to be dreaming still.

“We’re surrounded by an Ewok village and I need you to translate before they trash the ship,” Ah, you knew it was too good to be true. 

“Don’t get my hopes up or anything,” You mumbled absentmindedly as you clambered down the ladder. 

“Che womok, tyehtgeethin!” You could hear them chanting from inside, you sighed and opened the hatch before they got all worked up. 

“Yaah-yaah! Ninga ninga ka na-chin,” You lifted your hands slowly and gestured to the ship, noticing that Mando was standing behind you, “Coro chyasee? Zeeheein, gyeesh?”

“What are you telling them?” You jumped at the sound of his modulated voice, you hadn’t realized he was that close.

“I’m asking for help, safety,” You whispered back as you watched the short furry creatures discuss amongst themselves. 

“Acha! Goo eedada huutaveet?” A gray Ewok had separated from the rest and stoop at the edge of the ramp pointing towards the Razor Crest.

“Den! Ah-ah e manna manna, labu labu? 

“Eedeeza credits!” 

“Nocka, teeha,” You turned to the Mandalorian, “Give me 10 credits,”

“... That’s it? What’d you ask for?” He pulled some out from a little pouch in his belt and dropped them in your hand.

“Food and water, it’s all we need. We have enough surplus fuel canisters to last us a year and they wouldn’t have that here,” You turned and walked down the ramp to deliver the money when they saw the child. 

The Ewoks all seemed to get worked up at seeing him and you, in a bit of a panic, called out to Drlukkyyy and Mando in Shyriiwook instead of Basic. Then you had tried to correct you blunder with Yuzzum but the Ewoks had already stopped and were grunting and pointing at you. 

“Chuey!” The leader cried out and then made a noise resembling a Shyriiwook cry.

“Chu-Chuey?” 

“What are they saying? Why did they freak out when they saw the kid?” You looked back and saw he had a wary hand on his blaster. 

“Shh, they’re saying something I don’t understand. Calling for a ‘Chuy’ who I think may be a Wookie since they keep imitating the sound,” You turned back to the Ewoks, saying hello in Shyriiwook, “Dee fratta, Wookiee?”

“Acha! Acha! Chuey!” 

“Chuy?”

“Den! Chuybaka!” They pointed to the baby again. 

“What do you mean no? Chuybaka, that’s not an Ewokese or Yuzzum word... is it a name?” You muttered to yourself. 

“What does it matter?”

“Because they keep saying it and pointing at the kid. What if this Wookie knows something?” You walked back up the ramp to talk.

“No,” He deadpanned.

“No? What are you—?” 

“No, we are not going to Kashyyyk,” 

“Mando—“ You started but he quickly interrupted you. 

“No,”

“Wookiees have a lifespan of over 400 years. If anyone in this galaxy knows anything about 50 year old babies, don’t you think it’d be a Wookiee?” You reasoned.

“.... Just go get our food and water from these Ewoks so we can go,” He turned around to put the kid back in his bassinet, you were getting real sick of his dismissals. 

“Mando!” 

“The faster they get our stuff, the faster we can go to Kashyyyk,” He sighed.

You had to bite your lip to keep from smiling.  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is all Ewokese, Wookieepedia did not have a Yuzzum vocabulary available. So let’s just pretend. 
> 
> Che womok, tyehtgeethin! (Beware, stranger!)
> 
> Yaah-yaah! Ninga ninga ka na-chin (Greetings! I respect the tribe)
> 
> Coro chyasee? Zeeheein, gyeesh? (Can you help? Safety, please?)
> 
> Acha! Goo eedada huutaveet? (Alright! Trade for your ship?)
> 
> Den! Ah-ah e manna manna, labu labu? (No! Water and food, how much?)
> 
> Eedeeza credits! (10 credits!)
> 
> Nocka, teeha (Deal, thank you)
> 
> Dee fratta (That is...)


	13. Etke (adj.) More

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Am I crazy or falling in love?  
> Is it real or just another crush?
> 
> Everyone gets more than they bargained for and in more ways than one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Light smut warning under the line! We’re approaching those parts of the story here so prepare yourself. I’ll be sure to warn which chapters will have something.

* * *

_  
“The faster they get our stuff, the faster we can go to Kashyyyk,” He sighed. _

_ You had to bite your lip to keep from smiling. _

  
  


You had all ended up staying for the night while the Ewoks prepared your supplies. Drlukkyyy had been awestruck at the size of the trees in the forest and more than once had even tried to climb a few when you or Mando had turned away. The Ewoks had also been more than generous for the amount of credits they had asked for. You had actually felt pretty bad about the uneven trade and had ended up giving them another 15 credits for all of the borra jerky and sunberry brew casks they had rolled into the cargo hold. They had even given you a few loaves of a strange kind of bread before waving you off the next morning with cries of ‘Jeerota!’ and ‘Yeek Chuybaka!’

You also felt a little guilty knowing that Mando had his own plan of searching the Unknown Regions for the baby’s people, but searching aimlessly would only waste fuel and money. Kashyyyk may be on the other end of the Mid Rim, but it was the only clue you had gotten besides the one from his tribe’s Armorer. You’d never seen a reaction like that from any of the people you had encountered, both for the child and you speaking Shyriiwook. You had faith that this had to mean something.

However, you weren’t looking forward to another three days in hyperspace and you planned on telling Mando as much as you made your way up to the cockpit to drop off his lunch. Maybe you could convince him to spend a couple of days somewhere decent, just so the kid could get some real air again before flying for another week or more. Speaking of the kid, you made sure to give him a quick kiss as you stopped by his bassinet, smiling as he trilled happily. You turned to hand Mando his plate and found that he was already looking at you and the kid, you hoped he wasn’t judging you for getting attached.

“Is there something wrong?” You asked softly.

“... No,” He said that but his stare still felt like it was setting you on fire.

“... Okay. Well, I’ll take Drlukkyyy down with me to eat. So enjoy your lunch, those Ewoks make some decent jerky,”

“Thank you,” He looked down at his plate for a second and you stopped, you couldn’t wimp out now.

“Uhm, before I go, I was hoping we could stay somewhere in the Middle Rim for a couple of days before jumping into hyperspace again,”

He looked up at you and leaned back in his seat, tilting is helmet slightly like he was considering it.

“That sector is too dangerous for us to stay for more than just one day,” His response was slow, like he was thinking through what to say.

“But we are planning on stopping somewhere before Kashyyyk right?”

“... Yes. Tatooine,”

“... Tatooine?” You said the name slowly, softly. You hadn’t been home since you had tried to deal with the Red Key’s yourself.

“A planet owned by gangsters is less likely to have New Republic or Imperial forces waiting for us,” He reasoned, but your head felt like it was being held underwater. 

“Can we talk about this later? I really should get Drlukkyyy something to eat before his nap,” You turned to the door, trying to head downstairs when you felt his hand grab your wrist.

“Yena,”

“Please,” You wouldn’t turn to face him, you couldn’t, not right now. 

You just needed some space, it felt like you couldn’t breathe. 

After that day you were surprised at how effectively you could avoid someone in such close quarters like the Razor Crest, you figured you were only successful because Mando had been trying to avoid you as well. But so far, you’d spent the full 3 days of hyperspace travel to Sullust without speaking to each other since he told you of his plans to stop on Tatooine. You knew you were being a bit unreasonable, you should have been past this. It just always felt like the grief had its claws wrapped around your heart, and anytime you felt happy or that you could almost begin to forget, it would  squeeze until you couldn’t breathe. 

“We should talk,”

You guessed you could only avoid him for so long. He had finally cornered you in the back corner of the cargo hold after Drlukkyy had fallen asleep for the night. You sighed and finished your last bite of bread and jerky, at least he had let you eat in peace. You gestured to the crate across from you for him to sit, this must have been as new to him as it was to you since he shuffled uncomfortably for a bit. An awkward silence crawled its way through the both of you as you both waited to see who would speak first. 

“... I picked Tatooine for our safety. I knew it was a risk considering your history, but I didn’t do it with the intention of making you uncomfortable,” He spoke carefully, like he was worried about putting you off again. 

“I know,” You sighed and looked away from him awkwardly, “Just... Let’s not stay long,”

“I can’t guarantee that... This trip is getting longer than I anticipated,” He looked over at the bassinet resting by your cot, the baby sleeping soundly inside, “I’ll need a job sooner rather than later and Tatooine is the best place,”

“... Alright...”

“I’ll call in this time,” He quipped and began to get up, you huffed a laugh.

“Don’t get my hopes up or anything,” You snarked. 

“I’ll comlink in if it takes longer than a couple of days. Wouldn’t want you to think otherwise,” He reached out and chucked you gently under the chin, “I need you in good spirits,” 

You blushed darkly and scoffed up at him as he chuckled. He sure had a way of getting under your skin.

* * *

_ “I need you, Yena,”  _

His voice washed over you, a dark and heady buzz that surged through your veins. The leather of his gloves felt rough against your sensitive skin, and you couldn’t help but arch further into it. You felt so dizzy and he hadn’t even touched you where you needed him most yet.

“Mando, please...” A strangled sort of moan slipped from your lips as one of his hands gripped your hair in a tight fist. 

“What do you want?” His hand slipped lower, skimmed over your navel, and finally parted your wet heat.

“You,” Your back arched and...

... And you woke up. Your eyes shot open as you sat up slowly and looked around your curtain. The ship was quiet, and you could still feel the tremors of the propulsion system, so you must be in hyperspace. You leaned a bit further and peeked over at the small circadian clock hung over the rehydration station in the corner, at least it was still the middle of the sleep cycle. You sighed softly in relief and looked over at the baby, still sleeping peacefully in his bassinet. 

Thank the Maker. 

While having dreams about men wasn’t anything new, having a dream  like _that_ about Mando sure was. You swallowed thickly as you remembered some of the more  _ vivid  _ details, you throat was so dry. You didn’t think that you had said anything, otherwise the baby would have woken up. Your face felt hot at the thought that Mando could have heard you in the throes of some kind of wet dream. 

You shifted your curtains aside and padded to the refresher. You were desperately hoping that Mando was holed up in his cot, blissfully ignorant to your current nighttime predicament. The ship was incredibly dark tonight though, you mused as you nearly stubbed a toe on the corner of the carbon freezer. 

“What are you doing?” 

“ _** Krifmph—! ** _ ” You nearly jumped out of your skin and then more so when you felt a pair of warm hands pressed against your eyes and mouth. 

You froze, and felt him hesitate for a second to remove the hand covering your mouth until he was sure that you wouldn’t scream. The palm over your eyes stayed firmly in place and it dawned on you that Mando was probably sans helmet. 

“I... I had a weird dream, I just wanted a drink of water. I didn’t realize you were out here,” You whispered.  


You stood silently, waiting. He seemed to hesitate and you didn’t miss the feeling of his eyes on you. 

“... I’ll guide you to the ‘fresher. Don’t turn the light on until the door closes,” His voice sounded so different unfiltered and yet so familiar. 

“Okay,” You squeaked, “I promise, I wouldn’t disrespect you like that,” 

He didn’t say anything else as he walked you over, but the heat of his chest behind you wasn’t helping you forget your dream, at least you only stumbled once. He gently nudged you inside and closed the door for you. You made sure to count to ten after it had closed before you turned on the light. You let out a breath you hadn’t noticed you were holding and turned on the sink for a drink. 

It wasn’t until you looked at yourself in the mirror that you realized two things; that Mando could see  _ very  _ well in the dark, and that your shirt must have unbuttoned with all of your tossing and turning and had been open to nearly your navel.

In front of Mando.

You sincerely hoped that his eyesight wasn’t as good as he had made it seem.


	14. Baar (n.) Body

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mando can have a lil’ sexy time... as a treat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mando POV ish
> 
> Haar'chak - Damn it

* * *

_ You stood silently, waiting.  
_

_ He seemed to hesitate and you didn’t miss the feeling of his eyes on you.  _

He needed to sleep, it was his turn to watch the kid in the morning, but  every time he closed his eyes he was stuck somewhere in between ‘not being able to fall asleep’ and ‘not being able to stay asleep’. In the past, when this sort of thing would happen he would practice his drills in the cargo hold until he was too tired to move, but that wasn’t really an option anymore since he had picked up his new hitch-hiker. He rubbed a hand over his face, stopping to scratch at the stubble on his chin. He could shave... Or sit in the cockpit in full armor and inevitably fall asleep that way until the kid woke up.

He sat up with a groan, and fiddled with the ship controls on his discarded vambrace on the floor. Only when he was sure that every light in the cargo hold had been turned off and that the darkness was too much for even him, did he walk over to the ‘fresher. He’d had a passing thought to wear his helmet, but dismissed it tiredly. It was the middle of the sleep cycle, and he had seen you sleep through an asteroid nailing The Razor Crest in the hull the other day. There was no way you were going to be awake right now.

“ _Ouch!_ ” A harsh whisper rang out by the carbon freezer.  


He gripped the sink with a sigh, he hadn’t even grabbed the razor yet. 

He shut the lights and walked out into the hold, his eyes quickly adjusting to the intense darkness. He made his way over to you quietly, you were trying to make your way around the freezer. 

“What are you doing?” He mumbled wearily. 

You nearly jumped two feet into the air and your startled voice echoed lightly in the hold when  he placed a hand over your mouth and the other over your eyes for good measure.

You froze in his hold and he looked down to see if you’d finally realized that it was him and wouldn’t scream the baby awake. He slowly peeled his hand away, his palm tingled from the feeling of your lips on his skin. He swallowed hard when he heard your soft voice, and you felt warm in his hands. Maybe you weren’t feeling well.

“I... I had a weird dream, I just wanted a drink of water. I didn’t realize you were out here,” You whispered so softly that he had inadvertently leaned closer. He heard you take in a deep breath, the motion catching his eyes as they trailed down from your face. 

_ Haar'chak... _

Your sleep shirt was wide open, your chest and the soft curve of your breasts on display. Every time you breathed your chest pushed out a little more and suddenly his mouth was very dry. He followed the line of buttons down to your exposed navel and then lower past the rest of the shirt to your bare legs. He was pretty sure that when he had told you to find different clothes to sleep in, he hadn’t meant this. Your fingers twitched at your sides and finally snapped him out of whatever trance you had put him in, you were waiting for him to say something.

“... I’ll guide you to the ‘fresher. Don’t turn the light on until the door closes,” He cleared his throat and walked around to stand behind you and guided you past the carbon freezer.

“Okay,” Your voice sounded strained, and he wondered if he’d made you uncomfortable with how long it took him to respond, “I promise, I wouldn’t disrespect you like that,”

He couldn’t think of anything else to say after that as he walked you over to the refresher. At least it wasn’t a long walk. Though, he did have to quickly steady you when you stumbled over a stray toy. You gave him a sheepish laugh as he gently nudged you inside and closed the door. He ran weary hands through his hair and walked back to his cot. If he wasn’t awake before, he sure was now.

It wasn’t as if he was a stranger to women, but you were different, there was a strange history between you. He had been struggling to reconcile that the woman sharing a space with him and watching over his foundling now was the same girl who had jumped into a shootout to try and save his ass 10 years ago. Often times he still saw you like that, beaded hair and skinny limbs. After today though, he didn’t think he’d ever be able to look at you like that again... Or be able to look you in the eye at all.

Especially not after the way his hand had rushed to wrap itself around his cock with the desperate image of your body burned into his mind.   
  



	15. Tatooine Suns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ni su'cuyi, gar kyr'adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum.
> 
> “I'm still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.”
> 
> — Daily remembrance of those who have passed on.

* * *

_ “... I picked Tatooine for our safety. I knew it was a risk considering your history, but I didn’t do it with the intention of making you uncomfortable,” _

_ “I know. Just... Let’s not stay long,” _

  
  


The sound of alarms jolted you awake, followed by the dull thumping and rocking of the Razor Crest getting hit by something. Your mind was frantically working to try to catch up with your body as you jumped out of bed in flurry of flailing limbs, stumbling your way to the ladder leading to the cockpit.

“Hey! We just hit a small asteroid field when we jumped out of hyperspace,” He barked down at you from the cockpit.

You deflated quickly from your adrenaline fueled rampage and sighed before making a noise vaguely resembling a confirmation in response. You ran a hand through your hair, you were absolutely exhausted. Between the wet dreams, and your little debacle with Mando in the middle of the cycle, you had barely gotten any sleep and your little wake up call just now hadn’t done you any favors. You felt like a transport shuttle had knocked you into next week, and all of it was made worse by the crushing weight of overwhelming embarrassment sitting on your shoulders for not taking Mando’s advice on your choice of sleeping clothes to heart. You just hoped that the cargo hold had been as dark for him as it had been for you.

* * *

He had definitively seen you.   
  


The Mandalorian was good at a lot of things but it seemed that social niceties and how to deal with awkward situations was not one of them. He had spent nearly the entire day avoiding you. At first you had hoped it was just because you had almost caught him helmet-less, it wasn’t until  Drlukkyyy had been playing with one of the buttons on your shirt and you caught him looking that you realized that was not the case. It wasn’t as if you were much better though, you found yourself staring at his hands whenever he was around and remembering the way they had felt against you face. Which, ok not a huge issue until your thoughts ventured farther and caused you to blush so hard that in one instance you had ended up tripping while walking off the ramp on Tatooine. At least all of the embarrassment had kept you distracted from your current situation. 

Tatooine was as hot and harsh as ever, and you were glad you had bought that poncho and a cap for Drlukkyyy at Umgul City. Mos Eisley was still the seedy shit hole it had always been too, and well it was comforting to know that some things really didn’t change. Even if the familiar buildings and sounds brought back painful memories, like when your brother had brought you to Chalmun’s Cantina to see the Max Rebo Band perform. Another alley way reminded you of the first time you had gotten you ass handed to you by some of Jabba’s wannabe flunkies. 

“Hey, you alright? You look pale,” His voice cut through the echoes ringing in you head.

You blinked away the memories and you noticed that he had pulled you aside into an alley with a gentle hand wrapped around your bicep. You looked back into his visor for the first time since yesterday and gave his hand an absentminded pat.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Just hungry, let’s keep moving,”

“ _Yena_ ,” His hand wrapped around your bicep again and you turned back to him with a weary face. 

“ _Mando_ , come on. Chalmun’s will have some jobs,” You pleaded and he slowly released his hand which had begun to drift upwards before dropping suddenly again. You looked at him questioningly and he sighed before placing a gentle hand under your chin.

“When are you going to tell me what you’re hiding?” His voice was soft, but firm. He wasn’t going to forget, it was only a matter of time before he expected an answer.

“When are you?” You replied and turned back to the main walkway into the space port’s city leading the way to its more famous Cantina.

Chalmun’s was as packed as ever, with Mando leading you and the baby to a booth in the back and then walking to the bar to order. You looked around warily, so much for everything being the same, the type of crowd now gathered in here sure had changed. Bigger aliens, and a more shifty looking crowd than you remember gathered near the bar, but everyone stepped aside when Mando walked up. A full cuirass of Beskar was intimidating no matter where you went in the galaxy, it seemed. You caught the tilt of his visor as he barely turned to see where you and the child were, and you felt some relief that he was keeping tabs underneath the air on nonchalance he had around him. You turned back to the baby and ran a worried hand over one of his ears, you couldn’t shake the feeling that everyone was looking your way.

“Well, well, well... Look who it is,” 

Your blood ran cold at the sound of that voice. 

“Do I know you?” You turned and faced the group that had now gathered around your table, trying to fake an air of innocence while nudging the baby closer to your side 

“Oh I know you do, and I know  _ you,_ little sniper,” The Weequay leaned into your face with that gnarled smile that you’d recognize anywhere. 

“What’s going on here?” You shifted your eyes to the Mandalorian making his way to your side.

“A Mandalorian! You get yourself a bodyguard to come and face me, little sniper?” 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about—“

“See!” He slammed his hands on the table, startling you, “I know that’s a lie. I know everything about you,really. _All from this sweet little set of beads_.  Did you know that only the people of Rinn wear these ceremonial beads? Only one family on this  _whole planet_ wore beads like these,” 

Your hands were shaking under the table, you knew who he was, of course you did. You had spent weeks chasing after him and the Red Key Raiders through the Dune Sea. Lorgan Movellan was someone you were very familiar with and someone you had never anticipated on seeing again. You swore up and down that you’d heard him and his gang of thugs had been apprehended by the New Republic. You swallowed thickly and suddenly you felt a warm leather gloved hand cover yours. 

Movellan held a silver bead up to your face, “A perfect fit. Eh,  _Yena_?”

Mando’s hand suddenly shot out and grabbed Movellan’s wrist in an iron grip, “I would reconsider your next move,”

“Mando, Mando, Mando, I’ll pay you twice as much as whatever bounty is on her head,” Movellan laughed and wrenched his arm out of the Mandalorian’s grip.

“Honestly, I’m just upset that I didn’t put the bounty on her myself, especially after Yena here came after  _ me. _Such a silly thing to do when it was her fault I found her little town in the first place—“

You reached across the Mandalorian’s body and grabbed a hold of his blaster, then threw yourself over the table at Lorgan. You kept trying to shoot him at blank range but he was much stronger than you had anticipated, and his skin was so tough that any shots you had managed to get on him hadn’t done any real damage. 

Of course, all hell broke loose then, the Red Key Raiders all spurring into action, grabbing their respective blasters, and trying to tear you off of Lorgan as you tried to gouge his eyes out with your bare hands. You felt hands grabbing at your hair and clothes but you just kicked and clawed and shot at anyone who came in sight while Mando tried to keep you and the kid from getting killed on his own.

“You bastard, Lorgan! You didn’t need a fucking reason to torch my town!” 

You sobbed as you punched his face repeatedly at the expense of your hands. Suddenly, you felt a lurch as a pair of arms hauled you off of Lorgan’s body and dragged you out. You kicked and screamed and clawed at the arms wrapped tightly around your waist.

“Let me go!” 

You wailed desperately as he hauled you over his shoulder while winding through the streets of Mos Eisley to the space port. You kept squirming in his grasp until the Mandalorian practically threw you into the Razor Crest’s cargo hold.

“What the fuck was that, Yena?” He barked harshly but you just got up and tried to push past him. His hands were painfully tight on you arms but you didn’t care. 

“He killed them! He killed all of them and it was my fault!” You clung blindly to the Mandalorian’s armor as you sobbed, “I was on the ridge! I-I shot at them and he decided to torch it all to make an example out of us,”

“I couldn’t save them, I was too late. So, I went after them. I spent weeks tracking them and I... **I killed them** , I killed as many of them as I could!” You looked up into his visor with wide tear filled eyes, “They found me, one of them stabbed me, cut my beads off before I could—!”

The Mandalorian suddenly wrapped you in his arms, the hard press of his beskar against your body grounded you for a moment. 

“We should leave,” He mumbled by your ear before tucking your head under his chin for a brief moment, then making his way up to the cockpit.

You stared out into the sands as the hatch door closed, the smell of smoke felt like it was suffocating you but you knew it wasn’t real. You let out a choked sob as you felt the ship push past the atmo, you were leaving them again. You covered your mouth as the memories of the fire came surging up, your eyes shut tight, until you felt the gentle tug of a hand against you pants. You sniffed and looked down at sweet little Drlukkyyy, covered in sand and blaster residue, as he smiled up at you with a soft trill. Gingerly, you reached down to pick him up and hold him close to your chest, whispering apologies into his ear. 

With a clear mind, you realized just how much danger you had put him in by attacking Lorgan like that, if it hadn’t been for the Mandalorian you would have been killed, or worse. You wiped your face and made your way over to the ladder, suddenly the Razor Crest began lurched and you felt the blasts of enemy fire against the ship. You hurried up the ladder and stumbled into the cockpit, placing the baby in his floating bassinet and closing the cover. 

“What’s going on? Is it Lorgan?”

“Imps. Lorgan must have tipped them off. There’s too many to outmaneuver, prepareto go into hyperspace,” You watched as Mando deftly flew you out of enemy range and set the coordinates. 

“What? Where are we going to go?!” 

“As close to Hutt space as we can. Hang on,” 

You looked out into space as the stars began to fly by, the warning alarms were ringing through the cockpit and you just hoped that the Razor Crest could take the jump. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was really hard for me to write, not because of the content per se but more of the how? I knew what I wanted to cover but couldn’t figure out a way to do it. 
> 
> I wrote this 3 times before I was happy with it, so I hope it’s received well! 
> 
> Sorry for the delay (compared to my usual output lol)


	16. Shabuir (adj.) Jerk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When someone tells you that you have done something that has hurt them, you don’t get to decide that you didn’t.
> 
> -Karon Waddell

* * *

_ You looked out into space as the stars began to fly by, the warning alarms were ringing through the cockpit and you just hoped that the Razor Crest could take the jump. _

  
  


Mando had expected a lot of things from this trip to Tatooine, a job being one of them, and a safe place for you and the kid to stay put for a couple of days if it came down to it, being another. What he had not expected was the reaction you’d had to just  _ being _ in Mos Eisley, or how you had stolen his blaster and launched yourself over that table at the leader of the Red Key Raiders like a rabid loth-cat. He sighed and almost slid his helmet off just to be able to run his hands over his face in exhaustion. That was the word, you were  _exhausting_. From your sleep clothes and the disarming way you smiled at him, to the way you could just reach over and try to pummel a man with your bare hands. Or the way you had wailed so desperately for your family, clinging to his armor and looking up at him for forgiveness like he was the one who could give it to you. 

He leaned back against his seat and sighed as the Crest fell out of hyperspace. She’d taken on too much damage from the Imps and that asteroid field to make the full jump into Hutt Space. He’d have to stop for repairs, and the only habitable planet close by was Gamorr. Despite its more... aggressive population, it didn’t seem like he had much of a choice. He sighed and set the course, flipping the switch to autopilot.

You had disappeared into the cargo hold about half an hour ago when the kid had started fussing for food. Neither of you had said a word to each other since you’d escaped the Imps; honestly, he was still just trying to wrap his brain around what had just happened. The image of you charging over that table popped into his mind again and he held back snort. He couldn’t believe that he had been dragged into a brawl in a cantina, all because he had allowed himself to get distracted by you. He should have stopped and taken your history with Tatooine more seriously. He should have found another planet to ride things out on for a few days. He should have done a lot of things differently. But  _you_ ,  you should have told him about Movellan before landing on Tatooine, before he had even planned on landing there.

The more he thought about it, the more frustrated he became. You had risked all of your lives by refusing to tell him the truth, and most recently by throwing yourself at Movellan without a plan or warning. Now he was stuck trying to outrun Imperial starcruisers on a beaten up old gunship in Hutt Space. He growled to himself and made his way downstairs, you were going to tell him everything before you made it to Gamorr.

You were sitting at the little table you had fashioned in the cargo hold, the baby in your lap as you gently offered him a spoonful of mashed berries. You met his eyes through the visor as he walked in, and began to set the baby and his food down.

“You gonna tell me what happened back there?” He wasn’t really asking and with the way you ducked your head he knew that you knew that as well. 

“I told you while we were leaving...” You mumbled.

“No, you told me ‘some’ not ‘all’. I want the whole story, no more lies,” He watched as your head shot up and you leveled him with a fiery glare.

“It’s none of your business! I told you what you needed to know—“

“Bullshit!” He barked out despite himself, he didn’t understand why you were making things so difficult, “You put us all at risk by not telling me about Movellan!”

“I didn’t know that he was still on Tatooine! I didn’t know that he knew who I was! And I didn’t know that he had my beads!” You surged out of your seat as you shouted, you looked like you were ready to clock him in the jaw.

He looked down at the sound of the kid whining on the floor in between the two of you. You sighed and pressed the heels of your hands into your eyes quickly before reaching down and scooping him up before he had a chance to. He watched as the kid touched your face gently and you kissed his hand. It hit him how much the two of you had gotten attached to each other and a bitter taste sat on his tongue.

“Look, I’m not going to do this with you right now. Not with him here and listening,” You turned away sharply before he could even respond and closed the curtain to your cot.

He clenched his fists and made his way back to the cockpit. He knew you had a point, but that didn’t stop the bad mood he’d had brewing since leaving Tatooine. He made sure to lock the door before yanking his helmet off and nearly throwing it into the window, his arm seizing at the last moment as he breathed harshly through his nose. He ran a hand over his hair and tried to calm down, there was no need to turn this into a screaming match. He replaced his helmet and prepared the Razor Crest for landing. He really hoped that the Gamorreans wouldn’t cause any problems, he had enough on his plate.

He found a spot in a pretty isolated area in one of the planet’s many rainforests and set the Crest down. He hadn’t heard you or the kid for a while, he knew it was time for bed for the little womp rat, which would help keep the situation from escalating when he went back down there to talk to you. He hoped that you had both calmed down enough for you to speak without fighting.

“Hey!” He spoke too soon.

You had come up to the cockpit and had begun to knock on the door. He stood up and unlocked and opened it, much to your chagrin he assumed, as you were now standing face to chest. You stepped back roughly and met him straight on. 

“Look here, Mando! You  do not get to come down here and speak to me like I am a child. My life is  _ mine  _ and you haven’t been in it for a long time. I don’t owe you shit!” You snarled as you pointed a finger his way.

So much for not turning this into a screaming match, but Mando wasn’t one to just take shit if it wasn’t well deserved.

“You put me and my kid at risk! You grabbed  **_ my _ ** blaster, and jumped straight into a bar fight with a crime lord without a plan!” He growled back as he gestured down to the baby in the cargo hold, “If you don’t want to be treated like a child then don’t act like one!”

“Don’t you dare! You don’t know anything about me!”

“Then fucking tell me!” He yelled hoarsely, “I have enough to deal with without having to guess what you’re hiding from me! I gave you plenty of chances to tell me the truth and you’ve ignored me at every turn!”

“What about you? You sit up here and tell me just enough to get by but you’ve withheld information from me since day one! You’re such a hypocrite!” You placed two firm palms on his chest and shoved as hard as you could.

“You’ve known from the beginning what joining a bounty hunter meant, I told you the Imps were after us. This and that are two separate things!” He could tell that you were both starting to lose sense, you were hurt and he was frustrated.

“It’s not different! Your past is yours, I’ve never pried, all I have ever asked for was your trust and you’ve denied me every time it’s been necessary!”

“I have trusted your judgement repeatedly and look we’re it has gotten us! On the opposite side of the galaxy from where I was intending on going, being chased by Imps!” He needed to stop talking, “I could have found the kid’s people by now instead of making an emergency landing on Gamorr to be attacked by mercenaries!”

“Are you seriously placing the blame on me? I don’t need this from you, I have enough to feel guilty about but I will not let this be my fault!” You were crying, when had you started crying?

“It is your fault, all of this is! And I’m tired of trying to get you to see that. I don’t have the time to deal with whatever problems are coming after you. I don’t need this, I don’t need you!”

The words are out of his mouth before he can stop them, and in that brief moment he watches as your face contorts in shock and pain. You suddenly scoff and turn your face away from his, a hollow laugh stutters out as you mutter a ‘fine’. You’re out the door and he can’t make himself say the words he knows he should. It isn’t until he hears the cargo doors opening that he seems to jolt back into himself and clambers down the ladder after you. 

_ You’d left. _

One of the blasters was missing, and your bag was gone. He scanned the tree line for you but you were faster than he had given you credit for. He moved to the weapons locker for his rifle and blaster when the kid wandered over, looking around drowsily for you. He couldn’t leave now, not with the kid awake, and he couldn’t take him along. You’d be back soon, you knew Gamorr wasn’t safe for humans. You’d be back and he’d apologize for taking things too far... for being an ass, and this would all blow over. He leaned down and gently picked the child up into his arms, swiping a thumb underneath the kid’s sad eyes with a soft murmur of affirmation. 

You’d be back soon.

* * *

It had been 3 hours and you weren’t back yet.

He had managed to rock the kid back to sleep in that way he had seen you do countless of times now. He felt guilty for not listening to your advice more, and for not spending more time with... Drlukkyyy. He felt guilty for not stopping you, for letting his temper get the best of him. He had been standing watch on the ramp with his rifle ready for possible intruders or wildlife but there wasn’t a sign of you. He kept stopping himself from thinking the worst, that you had been taken... or killed. His entire body trembled with the effort to keep that last thought out of his head, but he just kept replaying his last words to you.

_ I don’t need you _

He needed you more than you needed him. He needed your connection with the kid, he needed your attentiveness, the way you had apologized for not bringing him food, for not giving him his own space. His stomach was in knots, what if you were dead? He was just about to lock the ship and haul his ass through this jungle when he heard something. He adjusted his HUD’s infrared scanner and found various heat signatures coming through the foliage. He prepared his rifle and lined up the shot.

“Mando!” You broke through the first line of foliage, limping desperately towards the ship. He was about to throw his rifle and run towards you when he saw the group of Gamorreans chasing after you.

“Yena, drop!” He watched the relief flood your face as you threw yourself down. He lined up his shot again and began to fire. One, two, three, reload, fire and they were gone. You hauled yourself up and suddenly you were up and running towards him. He had just tossed his rifle aside when you barreled into him, arms wrapped tight around his neck and hands gripping onto his cowl.

“ _I’m sorry! I’m so sorry, I’m sorry—_ “

“Hey, hey, come on,” He wrapped his own arms around you, trying to support your weight when you suddenly winced and cried out, “They cut you down and you kept running?”

“What choice did I have? I’m not dying here,” You sobbed and he was trying to very carefully get you up the ramp and to your cot.

“Wh-Where’s the baby?” He could feel your arms slacken, the adrenaline must have started to wear off. You’d be in a lot of pain soon.

“He’s asleep in the pod. He can’t hear us,” He heard your sigh of relief and then you were slipping, “Hey! Wake up, stay with me,”

“I-I was on the dunes to practice... my parents didn’t want me to but you had inspired me,” Your voice sounded hollow.

“We don’t need to get into that right now, just sit here,” He lowered you onto your cot and you slumped sideways. He ran to the medkit and closed the ramp door.

“Osha... had just passed, almost a year to the day. My parents were n-never the same, and I just wanted to p-protect my family,” You grit your teeth as you pushed yourself up to sit again.

“Stay still. I’ve got the cauterizer,” He looked down at your leg, your blood stained your pants and he could see the gash, “What got your leg? Tree or Gamorrean?”

“G-Gamorrean, a trap,” You gasped as he tore the fabric away and slipped your boot off as gently as he could.

“I was angry, I-I should have told you. I just, I didn’t want it to be real. Telling you would have made it all real again,” He swallowed hard and removed a glove and handed it to you.

“Bite on it. This will hurt but you can’t move,” He knelt with you leg firmly pressed between his as the cauterizer hummed.

He watched as you bit down on the leather and nodded. He looked back at your leg, a long gash from you thigh to just below the knee. It wasn’t deep, you had said it was from a trap, and he got to work. Your muscles seized as you screamed around his glove, your hands scrabbling for purchase on the cot until they shot out and gripped his pauldrons. You bowed forward and he pressed a steadying hand on your shoulder as you panted.

“A little more,” He ordered and you sobbed before nodding again.

The cauterizer hummed again and he made his way down the slash. His ungloved hand absentmindedly rubbing circles onto your knee as it trembled in his grip. He was almost done, he heard you whimper and tightened his grip on your knee as the cauterizer tapered off just below where his thumb rested. The humming stopped and you dropped the glove from your mouth as you cried openly, your forehead resting against his own. He gave you a final squeeze as he released your leg and reached for the gauze and wrappings.

“... I shot at Lorgan b-because I thought they were Sand people at first. I was just trying to scare them o-off...” Your voice sounded so small and tired, “When they got closer I finally r-realized who they were, but they were on a speeder. They shot me in retaliation and made their way to t-town,  _ laughing,_”

“Yena,”

“When I stumbled in a-after them, it was already burning. I spent w-weeks casing the desert for Lorgan...” You tried to lean back but winced and he moved to lay you down but you stopped him.

“I never found him... but I found his posse. I waited until n-nightfall, on a ridge with a scope and a rifle, and I shot them all while they w-were half asleep. Two came after me, a-and one got away after stabbing me and slashing my hair,” You met his eyes through the visor like you knew he was already watching.

“I need to get to the one on your back... Can you take your shirt off?” He mumbled.

“Buy m-me a drink first,” You laughed breathlessly.

“Come on. Don’t make this difficult,” You laughed again and began to unbutton your shirt and he nearly stopped breathing when he realized your chest was bare aside from the beaded necklace you always wore. He swallowed hard and looked away, now was not the time for  _that_.

You leaned forward and he eased the shirt off your shoulders, then urged you to lay flat on the cot on your stomach. You hesitated for a second before complying and then he saw it. The gash was one thing, long and raw, but underneath, your skin was raised and mottled. His hand moved, gently tracing over the skin and you winced. 

“When... When I told my sister what had happened, she blamed me. Said it was ‘all my fault’, that I should have done more to save them. She didn’t care that I had run in to our burning house,” You huffed a mirthless laugh, “If I die—“

“You’re not going to die—“ He said the words harshly without meaning to.

“ _If I die_... Give my beads to Odell on Chandrila,” You continued.

“Give them to her yourself,”

“I can’t do that, I'd be ignoring the one thing she asked me to do when we stopped talking,” You mumbled wryly.

“And what’s that?” He dug around his medkit for the small stash of bacta he kept for emergencies.

“To jump back into that fire and die—“

“Stop. She’s wrong,” He placed a firm hand on your back and applied the bacta, “... I was wrong,”

You peered over your shoulder at him and he cleared his throat, “I shouldn’t have said those things. I...”  _do need you._

You looked at him with soft eyes and gave him a gentle hum, like you knew what he had left unsaid. Then you smiled and whispered.

“I know,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my longest chapter to date! I hope you enjoy the 3043 word count full angst and forgiveness.


	17. A Clean Slate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Haryc b'aalyc - "tired and emotional", a Mandalorian euphemism for "drunk"

* * *

_ “I shouldn’t have said those things. I...”  do need you.  _

_ Then you smiled and whispered, “I know,” _

Mando had ended up moving the Razor Crest closer to the mountains. The worry of having alerted a nearby clan of your position when you had come barreling through the jungle was too high to stay in your original location. You had also been put on mandatory bed rest by your dutiful ‘nurse’. Even with the bacta having done its job, Mando had still consistently pushed you back into bed every time you had tried to get up for anything other than the ‘fresher. Drlukkyyy hadn’t been much better though, as he had been stuck to you like a sandtick on a dewback and they were both driving you crazy

“Just let me walk around, the bacta did its job! I’m basically healed!” You whined pathetically as you laid on your stomach in your cot. 

You resisted the urge to scratch at your back, your shirt did bother your skin but you weren’t about to tell Mando that. Although, it didn’t seem like you would be able to be able to keep it from him as he eyed you carefully then walked over and closed your curtain so you could peel it off. You sighed and gingerly stripped again before laying down, you arms tucked carefully against your sides. 

“‘Basically’ is not the same as fully,” 

His voice was stern but you could tell he meant well. You knew he wasn’t really a talker, and while he hadn’t apologized per se, he had already admitted to being wrong about what he had said to you when you fought. Maybe you were a fool, but you’d both said things you didn’t mean, you had already forgiven him from the moment you saw him standing outside the Razor Crest with his rifle aimed.

You could hear him shuffling around outside of your little curtained bubble and the kid made an anxious whine that had you tentatively pulling the fabric back a bit so you could see them. Mando tilted his head your way at the movement and paused. You felt your eyes meet his behind that dark visor and it made your stomach clench. He turned back to the plates in front of him and silently offered you one. 

“Maybe later. Thank you,” You murmured softly and he gave you a nod before turning back to Drlukkyyy. 

“Let’s eat, womp rat,” He settled down on a crate with the kid in his lap and offered him tiny spoonfuls of food. 

It was endearing, watching him with the baby. You could tell that he was trying, and that something like this may have come naturally to him in another life but it was now buried deep inside and he wasn’t sure how to access it. It seemed that despite the metal man attitude... he loved kids, and you desperately pretended that it didn’t completely melt your insides to see him being so soft. Suddenly, the kid swatted the spoonful of mashed berries out of Mando’s hand. A streak of it landed across his visor and he simply sighed, reached behind him for another spoon, and tried feeding him again. You bit back a laugh at the resigned slump of his shoulders until the kid threw the plate on the floor and he looked at you helplessly.

“You need to discipline him,” You suggested, “If you don’t, he’ll just walk all over you,”

“I don’t think the discipline the Corps put me through will be appropriate here,” He deadpanned and you let out a full bodied laugh at that.

“No, no, don’t do that. Just a firm talking to, say no. Show him what he can do if he doesn’t want anything else to eat,” You gave him a small thumbs up, “You can do it! You’ve said before that he understands a lot,”

He stared at you for another moment before looking down at the kid in his lap. You tucked a smile into your shoulder as you watched. This was going to be a long night at this rate, and it turned out that you were right, the kid did understand a lot. That, however, did not mean that he would do it. Mando may have been pretty good at laying down the law with you, but the kid was much better at breaking him down than you had thought.

“You’re such a softie,” You remarked after dinner and Mando made sure to give you, what you could only assume was a withering glare, as he walked past you to the refresher with Drlukkyyy.  


You tried to keep your snickers to yourself as you heard him struggling in the sleeping quarters, at least until Mando had finally settled Drlukkyyy down for the night and made his way to the rear ramp. He was going to try to repair the damages the Razor Crest had taken on during your daring escape from Tatooine and you could tell he was pointedly trying to ignore you. You just laughed to yourself, and closed your curtain so you could get dressed and offer him some assistance. Though, knowing him, he’d probably only let you pass him the tools instead of actually helping.

“What are you doing? Go back and rest,” You hadn’t even made it 10 steps down the ramp.

“Come on, Mando. It’s fine, it’s been 24 hours. The bacta did its job,” You made sure to pluck the set of welding gloves from his hand as you walked by.

“Besides, didn’t you hire me to watch the kid  _ and  _ do repairs? Let me earn my keep,” You looked through his toolbox for a welding mask and realized that... of course he didn’t have one. 

You looked up at him with a scowl but he only held his hand out for you, “Hand them over,” 

“Really? You don’t even carry a spare mask? What am I even here for?” You slapped the gloves into his waiting hands and sat on the ground with a huff.

“You shouldn’t even be out here,” He grunted and nudged you with his boot.

“Fine. I’m running diagnostics then,” You shuffled away from his boot and clambered up the ramp.

“Go rest,” He ordered.

“You can’t stop me, I’m doing it!” You flipped him a middle finger and he made an indignant noise that sounded more like static through the helmet.

This  was turning into a long trip, and he could be a real prick, but at least you were having fun. You snuck a glance at him as he walked by and he looked up and met your gaze slowly. You wondered if he had seen the way you shuddered.

Despite the outer damage to the ship, all of the internal machinery and computers were running fine. You had still run the diagnostics twice before calling it quits. You stretched and looked up at the sky through the cockpit window. The moons were high in the sky and you knew Mando was still working out there in the dark. You made your way downstairs and down the ramp, circling around the Crest until you found him, folded over himself under a sparking panel. 

“Hey, it’s getting late. Let’s pick this up tomorrow, Mando,” You placed a light, tentative hand on his shoulder.

“We can’t stay here too long. I need to finish this,” His voice sounded strong but his body looked tired. He moved to stand up but you pressed more firmly on his shoulder.

“Mando, it’s just one more day. Tomorrow, with daylight and rest, we can finish it together... Please?” You softened your voice, like your mother used to do when your father got the same way about a job or a project. 

He sighed and stayed so still that, if it wasn’t for the warmth of skin and the soft press of muscle, you’d think he was a droid. You called his name again and he gave your hand a lingering pat and stood up, handing you some tools to bring inside. You gave him a soft smile and he reached out to touch your chin. Your smile faltered a bit as you realized this was the fourth time he’d done that. You swallowed thickly and watched as his helmet ticked forward, just so, when your lips parted. 

Whatever spell had fallen between you broke at the sounds of Drlukkyyy crying inside the ship. You both hesitantly stepped away from each other and Mando made his way inside. You turned and pressed you cheek against the cool metal of the ship, trying to pull yourself together. Thoughts of that intimate dream from the other night popped into your mind and a thrill shot straight down your spine.  


You shook your head and jogged up the ramp into the now quiet ship, Mando must have somehow managed to soothe the kid back to sleep. He walked out of the sleeping quarters and gave you a nod as he closed the ramp and shut the lights in the hold, making his way up to the cockpit. You stared after him for a bit longer before gingerly laying down in your cot and staring at ceiling. You desperately hoped that sleep would come easily tonight.

* * *

_It’s all your fault! _

Your shout woke you up more than the nightmare, though the echoes of the Gamorreans grunts and your sister’s voice still rang in your ears. You moved your curtain to check the time; only four hours had passed since you’d gone to bed. You groaned low and flopped back onto your cot.

“You alright? I heard you,” Mando’s voice broke through the stillness.

You poked your head back out from your curtains as one of the overhead lights turned on, he was already standing at the bottom of the ladder. 

“Bad dream. I’m alright,” You croaked. 

He seemed to hesitate for a bit and then made his way closer, “Do you... want to talk about it?”

Well, that caught you by surprise. You looked at him owlishly for a bit before sitting up and opening the curtain all the way. 

“I didn’t take you for the type,” You teased and gave the spot next to you a pat; you hoped he took the bait. 

He walked over, but grabbed a crate instead to sit across from you, “As foundling’s we are taught to talk about our nightmares. A clear mind is a sharp mind,”

“What if I don’t want a clear mind? I think the only way I’d be able to get through the night, or even talk about my nightmares, would be with some alcohol,” You joked, but tentatively humored the idea. You weren’t a boozehound but you’d never shied away from a good drink when the nights got rough.

“That’s probably not a good idea,” He warned. 

“Yeah, well. I’ve been told that I like to get myself into trouble,” You gave him a wry smile, “You don’t drink, Mando?”

“Not usually. I’m always on a job,”

“You should get out more,” You grinned as you shot back his own words from the beginning of your trip. 

“Yena—“

“Have a drink with me,” You pleaded.

“You know I can’t and you need sleep,” He made to get up and you grabbed his hand.

“You don’t even have to drink wine, just... sit with me. You can sit in the cockpit and I’ll sit in the hall, please?” You met his visor again, and maybe what he saw in your eyes was what finally won him over. 

“... Alright,” 

You gave him a triumphant smile and he sighed so hard that his helmet made it sound like static. 

You had settled yourself right beside the doors to the cockpit, with Mando securely inside with his own wine sack or flask of sunberry juice. You didn’t like to drink alone, but you weren’t one to pressure others into drinking. You were honestly just glad that he had even agreed to sit and talk with you like this. So with your own cup filled with wine and your ear resting over the door, you took your first pull of the drink. 

“Wow, those Ewoks must party hard with this shit,” You hiccuped.

You weren’t usually such a lightweight but this wine was doing something to you. You hadn’t been planning on getting sloshed, so you definitely needed to tone it down. You heard his chuckle from the other side of the door and you felt a rush of heat flood your veins. It wasn’t fair that he sounded so hot and you’d never be able to see his face. 

“So what happened?” His voice washed over you as he pulled you back to the reason you were both even awake right now.

“I dreamt about what happened... in the jungle,” You set your cup in your lap. 

The coolness of the metal cup felt good against you bare leg, compared to the now warm metal floor. You had figured that he wouldn’t even see you tonight, so you may as well be comfortable while drinking in your usual choice of sleepwear.

“I was wandering around, but I heard them all around me... Grunting, squealing. I started to run and I felt the trees hitting against my skin, then... it was all sand. I felt them slashing at me, a stab to my side, a blaster to the leg. When I turned around it wasn’t the Gamorreans chasing me, it was Lorgan... I woke myself up,” You shrugged despite knowing that he couldn’t see it. 

“Is that what happened on the dunes?” His voice was steady, you guessed he wasn’t drinking wine with you.

“The injuries, yes. Yesterday, I just stepped into a trap set for some kind of animal and when they all came running for me I panicked and shot my blaster,” You took another gulp of wine, “They didn’t like that, obviously. They chased me through that jungle until I made it back,”

“You owe me rifle canisters for that rescue, by the way” He mumbled sternly. 

“And here I thought you’d be my knight in shining beskar,” You snarked, “Dock it from my pay, boss,” 

You heard him snort and the sound threw you into a fit of giggles. You were actually getting pretty tipsy, it had been a while since you’d been this relaxed. 

“You know, I used to think that about you. Back then. Although, I guess your armor was all red durasteel and not beskar,” 

“I’m hardly what anyone would call a knight,” He remarked dryly. 

“You were better than that prick Jabba had on his payroll,” You chuckled, but you heard him shuffling around. 

“Jabba the Hutt had a Mandalorian on his payroll?” He sounded like he didn’t believe you, which was ridiculous because you’d seen the guy yourself. Well, from like several yards away, but you knew a Mandalorian when you saw one.

“Yes, but he wore all durasteel armor. Blue? No... No, it was green,” You went to drink but found your cup empty already. 

“His name started with a ‘B’ or... a ‘J’? Maybe an ‘F’. I don’t really remember, but he was a real piece of work. You were much better,” You heard him clear his throat awkwardly after that last bit and you laughed softly.

“I... miss Tatooine sometimes. I miss Joh, and... my family. Do you miss yours too?”

“... Sometimes,” His voice was so gentle without the vocoder. Is this how he spoke to a lover? Had he had many?

“Have you ever been in love, Mando?”

He got quiet and you pulled your cup from you lips, thinking that maybe you’d taken it too far and offended him. You were about to apologize when he spoke again. 

“Once... I think,” He sounded like he was smiling, “You?”

“Hmm? Me? Oh, plenty of times I thought I was,” You laughed, “But I think only one time I _knew_ that I had been in love,”

“What happened?”

“Well... he left. I guess it just wasn’t meant to be,”

He got quiet again and you reached for the wine sack. The alcohol was making you chatty but being with him just made you stupid. 

“You know... I had the biggest crush on you back then,” You admitted with a laugh.

“I know,” He chuckled and for a brief moment you prickled.

“You ‘know’?  I didn’t even know until you left! How the fuck did you know?” 

“You weren’t very subtle about it,” He chuckled and you scoffed in defense of your 15 year old self. 

“I also made the mistake of telling Paz about the mission and how this one girl had helped me out, gotten me a ship, and gifted me a handmade leather ammo belt. He spent the next 3 weeks harassing me about you, called you my ‘little baby loth-cat’,” You laughed at that and he joined in with a few chuckles of his own before continuing, “I kind of figured it out, after saying it out loud, that you might have had some kind of feelings,”

You made a disgruntled noise and gulped down some more wine, “Paz? So you  do have names underneath all of that metal then. Will you ever tell me yours?”

“We’ll see,” You could hear the smirk in his voice and it made your hand itch to touch yourself. 

“You two sound close” You murmured softly. You were definitely drunk.

“He’s a brother. We... grew up in the same squadron,” He sounded wistful, and you found yourself wondering what he really looked like or what he had been like back then. The silence dragged on for a while and you were hesitant to speak.

“You miss your tribe too,” You whispered. 

“Yes,” His voice was just as soft and it sent a shiver down your spine. You hummed and closed your eyes as you let his voice and the buzz of the alcohol settle in your veins. The room was starting to spin a little but you didn’t want to leave yet.

“So... Mando, I have a question,” You stomach fluttered with anxiety, you were taking a big risk right now.

He hummed and you assumed that was your cue to continue. 

“What all did you see that night... on our way to Tatooine?” You murmured.  


You knew you were treading into dangerous territory. With the way the two of you had been acting though, and how you’d felt his eyes on you whenever the kid messed with your shirt collar, you felt that maybe you both deserved an answer. He hesitated but he had to be at least a little interested, he wouldn’t have been acting like this otherwise. You swallowed and gripped your cup a little tighter.

“... Enough to keep my imagination occupied,” His voice pitched lower, deeper,  _ richer_. You shivered and decided to take the leap.

“It doesn’t need to be... just in your imagination,” You replied softly, “l can show you,”

“Yena...” He was warning you, but he couldn’t hide the groan that had slipped in.

“I want to show you,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another long chapter! This is new for me, so let me know what you think! I feel like Din maybe a little OOC in this chapter so feedback is appreciated! 
> 
> Smut warning for next chapter!


	18. Can We Overcome This Distance?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Save a starship, ride a Mandalorian...s thigh.

* * *

_ “It doesn’t need to be... just in your imagination. l can show you,” _

_ “Yena...” _

_ “I want to show you,” _

Your words rang in the small space, electric and deafening. Although, that could just be from the way your blood was thundering in your ears. Your heart beating a frantic tattoo against your chest and you regretted the amount of wine you’d just drank. Even though the liquid courage was the only reason you had been able to say those words in the first place. You looked up at the locked door in front of you and gulped, finally asking the question that would change everything.

“Can I come in?” 

Several long moments pass and you press your forehead against the cool metal of the door, straining to hear him on the other side. He had to have heard you, your stomach dropped at the thought that this silence was his answer to your question. You swallowed hard and placed a careful hand on the door, fingers curling into the metal, when it suddenly slid open. You stepped back, your heart jumping into your throat as you realized that he was standing directly in front of you. 

“Don’t get yourself into trouble, kid,” His voice was low, a threat and a promise all wrapped up in beskar armor.

The depth of his voice made goosebumps prickle over your skin and you shuddered through a sigh as you met his gaze in that unforgivingly dark visor. You were drowning in him with how close he was right now, the smell of wine clung to him and you briefly imagined tasting it on his lips. You pressed your nails into your palm in reprimand, you couldn’t get caught up in something that would never happen.

“Maybe I like getting into trouble,” You breathed and watched the full body shudder that ran through him, a teasing smile tugging on your lips.

“So, are you going to let me in?” You dragged your tongue over your bottom lip slowly and watched as his body tensed, “Or should I just strip right here?”

“Why do you never react how I expect you to?” He growled but you could almost hear the smile in his voice.

You were about to reply with something snarky when he curled a finger into the neck of your shirt and and plucked one of your top buttons apart, then the next, and the next, until you were nearly weak in the knees with your body bare for his eyes.

“It’s more fun to keep you on your toes, Mando,” You reached up with lightly shaking hands to slide the shirt down your shoulders.

Mando slowly reached out and touched your chin, “You’re trembling. You don’t– You don’t have to do this,”

His voice was too soft, reassuring. It made something you weren’t ready to name yet settle into your heart. You swallowed down the butterflies and gave him a mischievous smile.

“Mando, I’m only anxious that you won’t like what you see,”

He made that noise he does when he thinks something is funny but doesn’t want to admit it and dropped his hand, fingers purposefully skimming over your puckered nipples. You shivered and sighed at the touch, trailing your fingers across your neck, but when you pulled the shirt open again and began to slide it over your shoulders he stopped you. You furrowed your eyebrows in confusion until you felt leather gloved thumbs sliding under the swell of you breasts as he made you sure that your shirt stayed on but fully open. He stared at you, his fingers trailing over your curves and across your collar bones.

“You don’t have to worry about that,” He breathed out, his palm sliding down your sternum in a way that had your legs shaking in anticipation.

“So, it lives up to your imagination, then?” You gasped out when his hand stopped right above the band of your underclothes. He suddenly gripped your hips and tugged you with him towards the pilot’s seat, tucking you into the space between his splayed legs.

“Surpasses it,” He rasped and moved to slide his hands back up to your chest when you quickly reached out to stop him.

“C-Could you take your gloves off?” You stuttered and he paused, pulling his hands away and leaned back. 

“You don’t have to...” You murmur softly, and he looked up at you. His hands opened and closed before reaching for the other, the slide of leather against skin loud in the silence of the cockpit.

The thought had never occurred to you that someone could make taking gloves off such an erotic experience, and yet here you were. He stared you down as he slowly pulled on each finger until the gloves slid off, and then dropped them onto the floor, along with your jaw when you felt his calloused fingers run against your skin. His hands were large, so much larger than yours, and when they cupped your breasts you had to bite back a whimper, you didn’t remember being touched feeling so electrifying.

“You’re so soft,” He mumbled, though it seemed that it was more to himself than to you.

“Softer somewhere else,” You whispered and impatiently dragged his hand down to touch you were you needed him to most.

You pressed his fingers into your pussy with a needy whine, and he moaned at the contact, making sure to press hard against your clit. Your gasp rang too loud in the stillness, it felt like it echoed and reverberated in your head until it was all you could hear. His fingers moved deftly, briefly sliding past your underwear to rub against your slippery folds, and you swore he had lit your body on fire. You couldn’t take it, you bowed forward and gripped his shoulders before your legs gave up on you. You wanted him to touch you like he meant it, to stop teasing and take you. You pressed your forehead against his helmet when a particularly rough swipe of his fingers had you crying out.

“You’re soaked,” His voice sounded strained and it had your legs buckling again.

“It’s not hard to b-be, when—“  _ When it’s you _ , you wanted to say but instead you yelped when he suddenly pulled you onto his lap, your pussy pressed tightly against the hard muscle of his thigh.

You couldn’t help but rock yourself against him, soft sighs and moans spilling from your lips. The beskar plate on his thigh was a bit uncomfortable against your ass but at this point you were too lost to care. You could hear him panting through the vocoder and it emboldened you to climb fully onto his lap and grind directly against the hard swell of his cock through this clothes, turning those pants into an indecently loud groan of satisfaction.

He was huge, and despite being hidden behind layers of clothes you could still feel the swell. You ached to have him inside you, to hear him say your name. You wanted to come like this, his beskar pressed against your chest, foreheads knocked together as you chased after your climax. He grabbed two handfuls of your ass and tilted your hips in a way that had your toes curling as the rough fabric caught against your swollen bud. You gripped onto his cape desperately and keened as he met your hips with his own fevered thrusts.

“I know—  Ah!  I know you can’t take your helmet off and I would never ask you to b-but,” You groaned and swore you saw hyperspace flash by behind your tightly closed eyelids, “Your c-cape! Your neck? Please!”

It didn’t seem like he understood exactly what you were asking for and you tugged impatiently on the corner of the fabric that tucked into his cuirass. You wanted to taste him, would he taste like wine or the sweat that was building up on your bodies as you chased after a high? He moved much quicker than you though, and gripped your hands tightly when you managed to finally get it off.

“I just... I just want to kiss your skin,” You whispered needily.

You opened your eyes and looked at where you thought his own were, slowly bringing his hands to your lips. You kissed his knuckles; then the pads of his fingers before sliding two into your mouth, suckling and scraping your teeth against the skin, then mouthing over his palm and down to his wrist until he groaned. He loosened his grip on your other hand and you pushed his cape off his neck and shoulders, a sliver of skin visible right beneath his helmet and more hidden behind the collar of his undershirt. Your mouth watered, his skin was a beautifully golden, just like in your memories from so long ago when he’d opened the bedroom door in just sleep clothes and a helmet.

He had a few freckles and moles littered across his neck and you longed to trace your tongue across them and connect the dots. You leaned forward and slowly pressed a kiss right under the line of his jaw. He made a choked off noise in the back of his throat, but he didn’t stop you or push you away. Instead, his arms wrapped around you, one across your shoulders and the other around your waist, with large hands pressed flat against your body. That was all you needed to close your lips around that patch of skin and suck hard, your teeth grazing over the spot before your tongue slipped out and finally tasted him.

“Oh,  _ Fuck _ ,” His hold on you tightened and he picked your previous pace back up, rolling his hips against yours as he tilted his head eagerly for you to continue your ministrations.

You mouthed at his neck, leaving a smattering of marks against his skin. You pulled the collar of his shirt down and sunk your teeth into the junction of his neck and shoulder right as you found your rhythm. You were so close, you gripped his cuirass with both hands and the orgasm finally ran through you like an electric shock as you muffled your scream against his skin. Your blood pounded in your ears and you felt more than you heard when his own hips stuttered against yours and he nearly roared with his own release.

One of his hands slowly tangled into your hair and held you tight against him, both of continuing to lazily rock your hips through the haze. His hand began to absentmindedly massage your neck as your breathing evened out and your hips stopped moving. You slowly pulled your lips away from his skin, and looked over your handiwork. That same feeling swelled in your chest again at seeing your brand against his skin and it nearly knocked you over. A stray though wheedled its way into your brain, would you ever get to feel his lips like this?

“I wish... I wish I could see your face,” You whispered distantly. 

It wasn’t until you felt him stiffen underneath you that you realized you had said that out loud.

“I’m sorry, I—“

“This... This was a mistake,” He interrupted and your face fell.

“... W-What?” You sat back at his urging.

He refused to look at you or answer your question, and you gripped your shirt closed in embarrassment as you climbed off his lap. You swallowed hard and tried to think of what to say, was he really going to push you away after  that ? Had you really misread things that badly?

“I didn’t mean that, I’m.. I’m sorry,” You tried to stop the wobble in your voice but with the way he flinched you knew you weren’t successful.

You choked back a sob and apologized again before running out of the cockpit. You dropped down the ladder, nearly twisting your ankle when you landed and hobbled to your cot. You went over everything that happened, over and over until everything blurred past your silent tears, and you had to wipe your cheeks roughly.

Had you really read the situation wrong back there? You knew you had a crush on him, and while you had doubted that he felt the same, you also wondered about the things he had done. He was just being honorable when he saved you at the station, in return for your good deed. He took you in as a favor to your family, because you’d helped him back then. He was kind because he was a good man, with a heart for kids and people in need, even if his armor tried to hide that. And what happened just now was the result of forced closeness and alcohol, he was a man after all. That was all. But now, your feelings were out in the open and the truth was that you did think of him as more.

And he... he didn’t feel the same.

* * *

Morning came with swollen eyes and baby cries. You vaguely registered the dull buzzing of the welder, realizing that the Mandalorian must be finishing up from last night. You padded over to the baby’s cot and crawled in with him, closing the door and humming your mother’s lullaby in his ear until he calmed. You weren’t ready to face the day, you needed a plan. You could blame the alcohol, spare yourself and him the embarrassment and fake it long enough to get to Kashyyyk. And then... Well, then you’d let him decide, give him an out to leave you there with Lumpawaroo and go on with his kid. This whole...  thing had been tumultuous from the get go, he had never really wanted you here. 

A knock startled you both from your light doze, “... You with the kid?”

You swallowed hard at the sound of his voice and reminded yourself of the plan. 

“Yeah, he was crying. I’m pretty hungover, I just needed a little bit more sleep and darkness,” You croaked, at least you weren’t outright lying yet. 

“Well... the Razor Crest is ready,” He shifted his weight, his shadow moving under the door.

“Okay, i’ll make breakfast in a minute,” You mumbled and the kid squealed at his voice. 

The Mandalorian stood by the door for a bit longer before walking off. You released a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding and looked down at the kid. He gave you that tiny smile you loved and perked his ears up, your heart clenched at the thought that you may have to say goodbye if the Mandalorian asked you to stay behind on Kashyyyk. The Razor Crest jolts as it takes off, then again as it breaks atmo. You breathe a sigh and get up. Only one more week of hyperspace until Kashyyyk, you hoped Lumpawaroo would be easy to find. It had been two years, and he had said he’d be traveling for a while with his father, you weren’t really sure he’d even be on Kashyyyk. You were anxious to have a safe space to stay though, especially with how antsy and frustrated the baby was getting at being cooped up on the ship for so long. You had already sacrificed two of your shirts to make some stuffed animals for him to play with, putting on puppet shows and telling stories were getting old and you were running out of ideas. 

You pulled out your sad attempt at a womp rat plush and told the kid your new story. This one was about brave Bena, traveling through the Great Dune Sea with his young ward, Luuk, to rescue his sister from a vicious Krayt dragon. As the food synthesized, you carried the baby through the hold, acting out the daring feats of your characters as he held tightly to the toy in his little grabby hands. 

“And then, Luuk jumped across the great divide! Using the magic of the universe he leaped twice as far as any womp rat ever had in their history—!” You yelped when you noticed that the Mandalorian had been standing by the ladder. You shrugged sheepishly and set the baby down. 

“... You seem better...” He cleared his throat roughly, the noise amplified through the vocoder, and you flinched. 

“Yes, I’ve had plenty of water and the extra sleep helped,” You shot him a shaky smile over your shoulder as you checked on the food. 

“Look, about last night...” He trailed off and you jumped in before he could continue.

“Oh? Did I get sloppy? I’m so sorry, I’m terrible with alcohol. I must have made such a fool out of myself!” You laughed despite the weight sitting in the pit of your stomach. 

“... You— What? You don’t remember?” He responded uneasily. You still hadn’t turned around to look at him fully, he was going to get suspicious. 

“No? Although, with the way you’re acting I don’t think I want to,” You chuckled, the carefree persona you had carried on the station slipping over you easily, as you handed him a plate of food. 

“Oh,” He almost sounded disappointed, that couldn’t be right, “Well, no it was... Fine,” 

“Okay,” You shot him a, what you hoped did not look fake, smile and sat down to feed the kid. 

This was going to be a long week.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Points to anyone who can guess the story Yena is telling Drlukkyyy when Mando walks in.


	19. Wookieespeak

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To burn with desire and keep quiet about it is the greatest punishment we can bring on ourselves.  
> Federico García Lorca

_ “I’m sorry, I—“ _

_ “This... This was a mistake,” He interrupted and your face fell.  _

_ “... W-What?” _

He couldn’t sleep, of course he couldn’t. He could still feel you; feel your skin under his hands, your lips against his neck, your weight on his lap.  _ I wish I could see your face _ , he pressed the heels of his hands against his eyes as your voice rang clear in his ears, even four days after that night. He closed his eyes and saw your face, the way you had looked when he touched you... the way your face had crumpled as you clutched your shirt closed. He shouldn’t have let things get that far, and he definitely shouldn’t have drank. There was a reason it was frowned upon in his tribe to drink with outsiders, they always wanted more than you could give... and he’d never be able to give you what you wanted. 

He should have been happy that you forgot, or pretended to forget. He should have been fine with the way you’d thrown everything back into a regular routine, spending all of your time with the kid, making up stories and games in the far area of the cargo hold. Instead, he found himself getting frustrated. You were clearly avoiding him, and you’d shy away from a direct conversation unless he started it. Something as simple as grazing hands when handing the kid off would make you flinch, and while he hadn’t been sure what he expected after that night, he was sure it hadn’t been this. He hadn’t wanted this. But he was fucked if he knew what to say or do to fix it. There were still three days left before you all reached Kashyyyk and it was too much to hope that this would all get resolved on its own between now and then. 

When morning came, he found that it was difficult to be okay with the usual silence or routine in the cockpit. He knew things weren’t okay, but he wasn’t sure if time or effort were the answer. He had wanted distance before, had wanted to continue as he always had, and now he felt suffocated. Day after day in hyperspace now spent alone when before, you would have invited him down to the hold; to use him as a prop, or even as a toy, for the kid. It had grown to be comfortable, even after a few awkward instances, and now he was sure you only looked at him to make sure he hadn’t gotten too close. 

But as the days passed, he found that he liked to watch you and the kid. You had made a fort out of some leftover crates and an old tarp, and the two of you would play in that little corner for hours. He’d sit by the weapons locker and clean the blasters while listening to you, your voice soft and warm and lilting. The kid loved your stories, and sometimes he’d see you making shadow puppets with a spare flashlight against the tarp just to hear the kid’s laugh. But mostly, he found that his favorite time was when you were putting him down for a nap, when you’d turn the cargo hold lights down and hum that lullaby of yours as you rocked the kid in your lap. Every day held a new story, a new game, but it always ended with that lullaby. On the day before you reached Kashyyyk, he finally grew the balls to try to ask you about it. 

“That song you hum, did you make it up?” He watched you flinch as his voice broke through the stillness of the hold and felt something heavy settle in the pit of his stomach. 

“Oh... Um, no. My mother, she would always sing it. Apparently, it’s a song from Rinn. It’s been so long though, I’ve forgotten the words,” 

“It’s... nice,” He finished lamely and almost kicked himself, “It’s been many years since I’ve heard a lullaby,”

“I suppose that’s not too surprising,” You shot him a sad smile and made your way back to the play fort.

“We’ll be reaching Kashyyyk tomorrow,” He added quickly and you stopped and looked back him.

“That’s good. My contact should be somewhere near Rwookrrorro, if not in the city itself. We should plan to land near there,” You gave him a tight smile and ducked under the tarp. 

He flexed his hands against the rifle in his lap as he stared after you. That really hadn’t gone how he had hoped. He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, he just needed to focus on the task at hand. There were still a lot of things to prepare for before landing on Kashyyyk. He wasn’t expecting a welcoming party, even with you onboard and your Wookiee contact. He looked down at the rifle in his lap and got back to cleaning, he’d need more than what he had in his locker to be able to go against a party of Wookiees with bowcasters. 

He really hoped it wouldn’t come to that. 

* * *

“Look, it’s Kashyyyk! You’ll get to meet a real Wookiee, little one,” You seemed to be in good spirits today, sitting in the cockpit for the first time all week. 

“Can’t be too much to hope that one of them knows something about the kid’s people,” He had mumbled it offhandedly, but realized that you’d quieted in response. 

He snuck a glance in your direction and found you looking out into the forests. He’d never been great with words, never had a need to be, and he’d barely noticed until Cara had called him out on it on Sorgan. Maybe this was one of those moments where he could have used some of that ‘bedside manner’ Cara had talked about.

“Over there, I see the hangar,” You snapped him out of musings and pointed out a tangle of trees crowning over the platform of the tree-city. He flipped on his commlink to reach out to dispatch in the control tower. 

“ _Wyaaaaaa. Mrowgh ghrrmrowrig! Grrrrrrrraaaaaarrrrph, wyoorg_ ,”  You both winced at the Wookieespeak suddenly filling the airwaves. 

“What are they saying?” Of course they couldn’t have gotten the team that spoke Basic. 

“The hangar is on that branch. Just park in there, bay four,” You pointed out a large platform resting on a hollowed out branch under the canopy of the wroshyr trees. 

There weren’t that many ships docked here, and the few that were seemed to be trading freighters or Wookie Catamarans. It seemed that, despite having a decently sized space port, Kashyyyk didn’t get a lot of traffic. With that in mind, the three of you _should_ have be safe from Imps and bounty hunters in Rwookrrorro...  _in theory._ However, the  Empire had held Kashyyyk under their thumb for many years, and Imperial remnants could have scattered themselves anywhere all over the galaxy, this place wasn’t any different. The population seemed to have recovered though, as many Wookiee families could be seen walking through the wooden walkways. You also seemed incredibly at ease walking through the crowds of Wookiees, despite many of them shooting a wary eye at the three of you. You didn’t really pay them much attention though, instead you kept talking about the datapads you’d read about the planet and it’s capital city. 

Apparently, the city was comprised of many levels and only the bravest or craziest Wookiees went below the fourth level. You looked like you were ready to jump down there and see for yourself, with the way you were currently teetering half over the railing. He looked around at the open skies and trees around them, he felt too exposed on this platform and without a guide or other non-Wookiee travelers walking around he was anxious to find this contact of yours. He touched the inside of your elbow to get your attention and you drew yourself back up quickly. He felt bad at the way you’d shivered at the touch, and stopped himself from reaching up to tuck a stray hair behind your ear.

“Where should we start looking?” He gestured to the many levels below you and watched as your eyebrows furrowed. 

“He told me he lived in the capital city. His father is a war hero, they shouldn’t be too hard to find,” You remarked quickly and pointed out some kind of law enforcers by a shop stall. 

“Stay here with the baby, I’ll go ask,” You threw over your shoulder as you jogged over to the hairy giants. 

He sighed and looked around, noticing that it didn’t seem like you were a part of the reason that the Wookiees were keeping a wide berth and a careful eye. He wasn’t sure how to feel when a pair of Rwooks started eyeing him up and decided to try and loosen his posture and focus on what you were doing. You looked like a little kid standing next to the pair of grizzled Wookiees you’d asked for help from. He glanced over at the kid in his bassinet, who seemed just as content to look around at all of the new sights, and he reached out to tickle the kid’s chin. His giggles were interrupted by a sudden cry breaking through the calmness of the forest, and Mando immediately reached for his blaster, covering the kid with an arm and looking for you in the crowd. His feet pushed him through the crowd without a second thought when he saw you in the arms of a juvenile Wookiee, it wasn’t until he saw your smile that he realized what you were saying.

“Lumpawaroo, I was looking for you! Thank you for your help, officers!” You gave the officers a wave before turning back to the other Wookiee. 

The smile on your face nearly bowled him over, though it would have taken a blaster being held to his head for him to ever end up admitting it. He shook the thought out of his head and walked over to meet you, the baby squealing as they neared the Wookiee. 

“Is this your contact?” He gave a nod to the Wookiee who made a purring noise in acknowledgement and held a finger out for the kid to shake.

“Yes! This is Lumpawaroo. Waroo, this is the Mandalorian I’ve been traveling with, and his foundling,” You gestured towards the two of them and it didn’t escape his attention that you hadn’t called him Mando or used the name you’d given the kid. 

“Waroo, we’re looking for someone. A Wookiee. Could you introduce us to some of your elders? This child, he ages like you do, we’re hoping someone may know more about him,” The Wookiee, Waroo, made a few different growls and grunts as he placed a wooly arm around your shoulders, “Yes, yes, we’ll probably stay a few days. You said your father was here? Am I finally going to meet him?” 

As he and the kid trailed after the two of you, he felt like more of an outsider than usual. You three weren’t getting as many looks as before now that Waroo was guiding you through the many interconnected trees of the city. But, Mando did notice Waroo eyeing the kid every now and then, and placed a protective hand on the bassinet. You may trust this Wookiee but that didn’t mean that he had to. 

The walk hadn’t been as long as he had anticipated, it seemed that having a war hero as a father got you pretty good real estate near the space port. The houses were made much differently from the platform that the port itself was built on. All of the wooden slats and beams connected together and wrapped around the branches of the trees. It was a little obvious that some of the homes were made more... _modestly_ , than others. Although, As you all walked up to a rather large wooden stairway leading up to an even larger house, it seemed that Waroo’s home was not one of the modest ones. His father must have certainly done his fair share in the war to gain so much respect. 

“Wow... So what’s your father’s name again? Because I should probably address a war hero by his proper name in his _very_ stately home,” You chuckled uneasily as Waroo lead you all up to the main entrance. 

“ _Grrraaaagrrr_ ,” 

“ Chewbacca?” You looked back at Mando when you’d noticed that he had stopped a couple of steps back, “Do you know him?”

“I’ve heard of—“

“ _Arrrgrrr_? ” Suddenly, a much larger Wookiee walked around the veranda and froze upon seeing the child, “ _Grrrraffffffff! Growarrgrrafffffff mrowgrrr ghroowfff_?!”

“Yena, what is he saying?” Mando slowly reached for his blaster but Chewbacca had keener eyes than he had expected and had caught the movement, if the roar he threw at them was anything to go by. 

“He’s asking what we’ve done to General Yoda,” You stepped back and shielded the kid’s bassinet with your body as Mando tried to step in front of you. 

Waroo was quick to diffuse the situation, although Mando was lost as to what he was actually saying since you weren’t providing direct translations. Whatever the younger Wookiee has said seemed to do the job though and Chewbacca had calmed down enough to address you directly. He guessed that Lumpawaroo had told him that you understood Shyriiwook. 

“This is a child. The Mandalorian I’m traveling with found him, but he is already 50 years old. We’ve been looking for his home,” You stepped aside and gently pet one of the kid’s ears as you spoke, “On Endor... They saw him and told us to come here, to find ‘Chuy’. Is this Yoda like him?”

Chewbacca studied you all carefully, Mando felt something brewing in his blood as you all waited, until finally the Wookiee nodded towards the house and ushered you all in anxiously. 

Mando suddenly felt like he was going to get more questions than answers here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Star Wars Legends Territory, Lumpawaroo is still a kid. I decided to make him a bit older, young teens kind of thing, cuz like I make the rules and the dynamic between him and Yena works better. 
> 
> I’m the captain now. 
> 
> Also, in Mando POV you see Shyriiwook as it’s spoken. In Yena POV we’ll get direct translations.


	20. Jedi General Yoda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Secret, shall I tell you? Grand Master of Jedi Order am I. Won this job in a raffle I did, think you? ‘How did you know, how did you know, Master Yoda?’ Master Yoda knows these things. His job it is.” 
> 
> — Yoda

* * *

_ Chewbacca studies you all carefully, Mando felt something brewing in his blood as you all waited, until finally the Wookiee nodded towards the house and ushered you all in anxiously.  _

“ _Who are you_?” 

Chewbacca was an imposing figure, that was certain. He had at least been gracious enough to usher you inside after your initial meeting. He had even offered you each water and a meal before seating you at his table, if only to make you comfortable enough for an interrogation it seemed. He was also fascinated with the child and you watched as his eyes never left the bassinet, despite the Mandalorian’s open display of protection. You needed to tread carefully, he already thought that you had all done something to his friend, Yoda. 

“My name is Yena, I am a friend of Waroo’s. We met on a space station a couple of years ago, in the Outer Rim,” You tugged on the sleeve of your shirt anxiously, you hadn’t expected Lumpy’s father to have been the Wookiee you were looking for, “It is a coincidence that we are here. The Ewoks on Endor heard me speaking Shyriiwook to the child and directed us to find a Wookiee named ‘Chuy’. We did not realize that it was you,”

“ _No._ _Not a coincidence. The Force_ ,”

“The...  force? I don’t understand,” You glanced over at Waroo and then the Mandalorian as his helmet ticked to the side. 

“ _I fought at_ _ Jedi  _ _General Yoda’s side during the Clone Wars, here in Kashyyyk. General Yoda was a brilliant strategist, but after many days of battle we could not hold them off. The Separatists had overrun us, and the clones had turned on the Jedi. Yoda, with Tarfful and I, escaped into the nearby mountains. We evaded clone patrols and found an escape pod for General Yoda to leave the planet. Tarfful and I rejoined our tribe only for Kashyyyk to be occupied weeks later. I never saw the General again, under the Empire the Jedi Order was destroyed. The Jedi held immense power. A deep connection with The Force. It binds us all, I saw it with my own eyes_ ,”

“...  Ok so then... General Yoda was the same species as this little guy?” You gestured towards the bassinet and the Wookiee nodded with a purr, you were starting to get a migraine. 

“ _Yes, though much much older_ ,” 

“...  So then... Yoda wouldn’t have had the chance to mention his home world in the middle of the war, right?” 

“...  _ No. He did not_,” Chewbacca replied sheepishly.

You sighed and rubbed your temples. You had heard of ‘Jedi sorcerers’ back home, but you had always thought that it was a load of bantha shit. Just something that had been made up to help kids believe in magic and heroes, not a real group of people who used something called ‘The Force’. Now, you were sitting in front of a hundreds year old Wookiee while he told you that this ‘Force’ was a real thing that connected the entire galaxy and that the Jedi had been a real group of people. And above all that, these ‘Jedi’ had a little green guy like the Mandalorian’s foundling as a  _ General _ during the Clone Wars. Even for you this was a lot to take in. 

“What is it?” The Mandalorian’s voice broke through your reverie. 

“Ok, So... The condensed version I guess,is that Chewbacca here, fought in the Clone Wars under a Jedi named Yoda. This guy was the same species as the kid and used ‘The Force’... which I guess the kid does too? But he never mentioned his home world and the Jedi were all wiped out during the reign of the Empire,” You sighed and faced him.

“... So, there  _ was _ someone out there who could have taken the kid or led us to the right planet, but he’s probably dead by now and we don’t have any other clues,” The Mandalorian deadpanned and you held back the urge to reach over and throat punch him. 

“... Essentially,” You gritted out and faced the Wookiees.

“There’s nothing else that you know? No one who could help us?” You pleaded, you couldn’t leave with nothing to show for it after traveling so long to get here. 

“ _ Well, Luke is a Jedi. But no one knows where he is, _ ” Chewbacca scratched the back of his head as he spoke. 

“Seriously, no one?” You deflated, “This Luke, did he know Yoda?” 

“ _Yoda trained him, and then passed on. Luke is the last to have the knowledge of the Jedi_ ,”  Chewbacca shrugged and met your gaze for a few moments before scratching his head again and standing, “ _I know someone who could know where Luke is. I’ll try and contact him. You are all welcome to stay with us until he replies_ ,” 

Relief flooded you and even though the chances were small, there was still hope. You thanked him profusely in Shyriiwook and he waved you off with a laugh. 

“Chewbacca is contacting someone who might know the whereabouts of the Jedi that General Yoda trained. Our safest bet is to stay here until we make contact,” You explained tiredly to the Mandalorian next to you. 

You watched as his hand went for the vibroknife to flip while he decided and then stopped. Your lips thinned to a line and you turned away. This had to be the moment when the Mandalorian would tell you that he’d go on alone, maybe he’d even blame you for wasting his time. You tried to prepare yourself and made to get up so you could make some small talk with Waroo about what room you and the child should take while you were here. It was better to let the Mandalorian decide on his own what his next of course of action should be. When you came back from the tour of the house with Lumpawaroo, the Mandalorian had already left. You knew that it was only to get the supplies from the Razor Crest, but the bitter taste in your mouth reminded you that this was what you should be expecting when tomorrow finally came. 

You decided to continue about your regular business; getting the child fed and ready for bed, avoiding the Mandalorian whenever he entered a room, the usual. You were being ridiculous, you knew it, but if you were too busy to notice then it would hurt less... right? Right. If you were too preoccupied with the daily routine; with the stories, the games, the songs, then it wouldn’t catch up. So you continued on, trying to discretely dislodge the giant shard of loneliness and abandonment from your heart every time you looked in his general direction. 

This too shall pass.

* * *

You couldn’t sleep, the sounds of the night were much louder on Kashyyyk than on the Razor Crest. It had actually gotten so bad that you had to move the kid to the bassinet so he could sleep with the soundproofed shield closed. You had laid in the hammock for a while longer after that, but the heat coupled with the noise was too much with the unease in your mind. So, you stood on the balcony overlooking the forests and sighed, the moon was full and it made everything look a little eerie. The darkness of the forest floor overwhelming in its density, it didn’t take long before you had to look away. He must have intended for you to hear him, with the way his foot steps seemed to hit every creaky board on his way over to you. 

“Hey,” He stood a few feet away from you, leaning his elbows against the railing but looking out towards the forests as well, “We should... talk,”

“Talk?” You feigned confusion, picking at a spot on the wooden railing that seemed to be rotting. You weren’t ready, you’d had all day but you needed more time. How could this come so easily to him to say goodbye?

“ _Yena,” _ Oh. No, he did not get to say your name like that, like it pained him to have this conversation. In that moment all you wanted was to show him real pain.

“Oh,  _talk_. Right. What exactly do you want to talk about? How you kicked me out of the cockpit that night? Or how you refused to look at me or accept my apology? Or maybe how you had been just as into it as me until it no longer benefited you, right?” You let the venom spill into your words, let the hurt from the past week leak out as your voice cracked on the last word.

“Stop. That’s not it—“ He turned to face you and you shot him a look. 

“Isn’t it though?” You scoffed and softened your voice as you looked back out towards the forest, “It’s fine, Mando. You don’t feel the same and I’ll be okay, but if it’s really bothering you that much then by all means, I’ll stay here. I can make my way back without you,”

“I don’t want you to go,” He declared and you cursed your heart for stuttering. 

“But you don’t treat me like you want me to stay,” You breathed and turned to face him again.

You weren’t sure how long you both stood there on the balcony, trying to decide to who would speak and what they should say. Yet again, that stray thought that had worked its way into your brain so many nights ago, appeared and wreaked havoc. Staring at that empty faceplate; waiting for his reply as he stood protected,  _ safe_, while you wore your heart on your sleeve. 

_ I wish I could see your face.  _

“We’ll be a crew, but it won’t be the same. We’ve got to find a new normal,”

“I understand,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Double updates! Posting Schedule? I don’t know her. 
> 
> This is a shorter chapter compared to the last couple but I felt like I hit a good stopping point. 
> 
> I wanted to thank everyone who’s left a comment or a Kudos and has kept up with this story. Never, ever in my life did I think I’d have such a huge turnout on any story that I wrote, it’s been amazing. You guys are awesome, your support has definitely fueled this story lololol


	21. Murishani... Sleemo!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “What’s going on? Luke? Luke’s crazy! He can’t even take care of himself, much less rescue anybody. A Jedi Knight? I’m out of it for a little while, and everyone gets delusions of grandeur!”
> 
> — Han Solo

* * *

  
_“We’ll be a crew, but it won’t be the same. We’ve got to find a new normal,”_   
_“I understand,”_

  
  


  
You took a deep breath as you looked down at the forest floor from you place on the platform. Waroo walked past you and gave you a heavy pat on the back as he got in line with the other young Wookiees, he had somehow convinced you to try this foolhardy new ‘Test of Courage’ with him. The point was to take a running leap off of the platform onto the farthest wroshyr tree branch you could reach. The winner was the one that jumped the farthest distance, and the loser... was whoever fell nearly 10 stories down to the forest floor, if they even survived. 

You had asked about the likelihood of the second scenario happening and had been assured that nothing bad had happened... yet. So, like a moron, you had allowed yourself to be led up to the top of the canopy with a group of daredevil Wookiees and watched as a handful of them tried their luck. After several attempts with no bad incidents Waroo had asked you again if you would try it, assuring you that he would never let you fall and had handed you an emergency grappling hook and a pair of knives to ‘stick your landing’. Now, you were having second thoughts as you looked over at the line of bystanders currently giving you a row thumbs up.

You swallowed the lump in your throat and wiped your sweaty palms on your trousers. You had to be insane, but there was no way you’d let a couple of Wookiees equivalent to half your age show you up. You looked out past the platform to the tree branch you were aiming for and backed up to take your running start. Your ribs hurt from the desperate way your heart was beating, the sound of the blood rushing in your ears was nearly deafening. The Wookiees’ cries were a dull roar as they cheered you on, and you clenched your eyes shut. 

“Yena! What the _fuck_ —“ And that was your cue. 

You snapped your eyes open and started your frantic sprint to the end of the platform. The frantic beat of your boots smacking against the floor and the angry shouts of the Mandalorian behind you urging you faster and faster until you had no choice but to take your last step and push off. For a moment you felt weightless, a part of the sky above you as the wind whistled around you. The adrenaline flooded your veins and you crowed in euphoria as you sailed across the distance and— smacked so hard into the tree that your knives got knocked out of your hands and your head bounced off of the rough bark with a resounding smack. The world spun and you saw the sky again as you felt yourself falling backwards. This really had been a fucking stupid idea. 

You heard the sound of thrusters before you even saw him. Suddenly, his hand shot out, grabbed yours, and pulled you into his chest before barreling into a stall on one of the lower levels of the city. You heard indignant cries and growls as you skidded to a stop a couple of yards away from your Mandalorian rescuer. You laid there for a while trying to blink away the spots in your vision, then rolled over with a groan and faced the small sliver of sky visible through the canopy. You turned your head slowly, only to find the Mandalorian already looking over at you while leaning up on his elbows. 

“Oh... Hey, Mando,”

You watched him as he unsteadily climbed to his feet with an angry toss of his cape over his shoulder. He stomped his way over to you and you gave him a dopey smile as he separated from one Mando to three. You vaguely heard Mando saying your name as he leaned over you and waved a finger across your vision and you swatted his hand away. 

“Did I win the game?” You questioned with a groan.

You watched as his shoulders slumped before sighing out a long and drawn out “Nope,” and then hauling you up and dragging your ass back to Chewbacca’s house. 

It had been a month since you had landed on Kashyyyk and despite many many calls, you had still not been able to communicate with Chewbacca’s contact. The Mandalorian had started to spend more time on the Razor Crest as the days began to drag on. You guessed it was either to run drills or to study star charts, the other option being that he was taking care of more... _personal matters_. You desperately tried to steer clear of those thoughts; you wanted to get over him, not torture yourself with images of what his body possibly looked like under the armor and layers of clothes..... _Focus_! 

Regardless of the Mandalorian’s _activities_ , you had mostly hung back with the kid and Waroo until the days had begun to drag on for you as well. After the first 3 weeks, you had actually managed to convince Chewbacca and his wife to watch the kid on occasion when Mando didn’t have him. You just hadn’t anticipated that Mando would come looking for you on the day when you had taken advantage of said occasion to try your hand at some gutsy stunts with a group of Wookiees. It wasn’t that you were ungrateful that he had found you in time and saved your ass from a pretty terrible death. His stern gaze through the helmet wasn’t making _feel_ very thankful, though, neither was the antiseptic cleaning pad he was currently applying to your head. You winced as he pressed down roughly on the cut, mumbling to yourself that he had probably done that on purpose. He just snorted and applied the bacta, though with a slightly gentler hand. 

Things were still tense between the two of you to say the least. There was still a lot that you wanted to say to him, and a lot more that you wanted to hear from him. You doubted that it would happen on its own though, but you weren’t sure if you were as brave as he had been that night when he confronted you. It was also pretty hard to speak to someone when they were actively avoiding you, though you didn’t think it was so intentional and had more to do with him trying to give you space. Did he feel as unsure as you did about how to move forward? You met his eyes through the visor and his hand faltered. You took a deep breath but felt the words get stuck in your throat as you opened and shut your mouth a couple of times. He dropped his hand and sat patiently in front of you.

“... That night, I shouldn’t have—“

“ _Yena! We’ve made contact!_ ” You turned sharply towards Chewbacca as he stood in the doorway with your little green child strapped to his chest in a baby sling. 

“He made contact!” You exclaimed in relief and patted Mando on the shoulder as you jogged over to the door and followed Chewy to the control tower. 

You decided to take the interruption as the Force telling you to wait, you did have more to worry about right now than this particular conversation. The kid was growing stronger every day; pulling objects down from shelves and from across the room, and occasionally pushing things away in a fit of toddler rage. Granted, it wasn’t just toys but people too. It was a little unsettling to see him show so much power, he was just a kid, a baby, he couldn’t even talk yet. This communiqué could not have come at a more opportune time, sometimes you just had to cut your losses. 

“ _Is everything alright_?” Chewbacca’s question pulled you back and you blinked up at him. The child squealed in delight as a few of the can-cells on the landing platforms flew by.

“... Yes, yes. Everything is fine,” You assured him and he appraised you carefully. 

“ _Love is difficult for some, the best thing we can do is have patience. For them and for us_ ,” He nodded sagely and your expression wavered. 

You brushed him off with an awkward chuckle. You weren’t ready to name _that_ feeling yet, and even then... _love_... was a bit too strong to use right now. Chewbacca gave you a look and pulled you close to his side with a laugh. It had been a while since you’d had a father figure, though. It was nice to have someone watching out for you. 

“You’re a bit off your rocker there, Fuzzball,” You joked easily as the Wookie put you in a playful chokehold before walking up the tower. 

The message Chewy had been broadcasting to his contact had been amplified through the space port’s control tower on a hidden channel. Chewbacca had never mentioned the name of his contact, but you assumed it was someone pretty high profile to use a hidden channel. Apparently though, his contact had been in the sector and would be on world by the end of the day. The reply had only been to ‘be prepared to move and that they would be guiding you three to the Core to contact Luke’. You had liked being on Kashyyyk, but you knew that Mando would be silently relieved to move on. You did have an uneasy feeling in the pit of your stomach though, you hoped it didn’t mean anything. 

The kid kept squirming in the sling for you to set him down as you neared the Razor Crest. Chewbacca had handed him over after you split up to head to the ship. You didn’t really like letting him roam on the hangar platform with all the can-cells and the fact that the platform had no safety railings. You really felt more at ease to set him free once he was in the Crest, but first you had to muster up the balls to actually reach out and knock on the hatch door. 

“Hey... It’s me. Can I come in? I have news,” You called up, then knocked twice for good measure. 

The ramp lowered suddenly and you jumped back. Mando stood at the doorway and gave you a nod, as you walked up into the cargo hold. Apparently, he had been cleaning with how reorganized and tidy it all looked. You eased the baby out of the sling and let him toddle around, noticing that the Mandalorian had placed a small table and chairs in the back corner of the hold next to the food synthesizer and had sat himself down there. You sat down across from him and noted that while they were not the most comfortable chairs ever made, they were sturdy enough. 

“Chewbacca’s contact will be here in a couple of hours,” You started off slowly, “They said to be prepared to leave for the Core as soon as possible, so l’ll get started on packing up our stuff over at the house,” 

He only gave you a firm nod and your tentatively good mood withered with the gesture. 

“... Okay, well. I guess I’ll go and prepare then. This person is supposedly another war hero, not sure who to expect though,” You made to stand up and he finally spoke.

“How’s your head?” You stopped and looked over at him as he waited expectantly, a tilt of his helmet added for good measure.

“... I’ve got a headache, but that’s normal I guess,” You shot him an easy smile and yanked the kid away from the carbonizer, “I’ll see you when they get here, yeah?”

He made a noncommittal grunt and waved you off.

* * *

You winced as the child bonked you on the head with one of the wooden toys Waroo had whittled for him. You were waiting anxiously for this ‘contact’ to come flying in, it felt like they were taking too long, what if the Imps got to them or they led them here? The child bonked you again and you looked down at him in annoyance, but he merely smiled and reached for your hand as if to soothe you. This kid was too aware sometimes and it made you tense and comforted all at the same time. You startled when you noticed a shadow crossing the threshold of the house. 

“Here I thought I was going to come in here and find out you were trying to fly without a jet pack again,” Mando rasped as he dropped his rifle by the door and leaned against the wall in probably the most relaxed pose you had ever seen him in; legs crossed at the ankles and hands resting easily on his belt. 

“Har har. It was a feat of courage, and I showed those Wookiees that I had plenty of it,” You puffed up defensively.

“Right... And with the scar on your eyebrow now to prove it,” You stood up indignantly at that comment and walked over to square up against him. 

“Mando, I am more than positive that you’ve done way crazier stunts to prove how tough you are,” You gave him a sardonic laugh as you pushed on his chest plate. You felt the way his breathing stuttered through his chest under your hands.

“Maybe,” He breathed and a thrill shot through you. 

It wasn’t until you heard Chewbacca’s boisterous conversation that you had the good sense to step away hurriedly. You could still feel his eyes on you and it took everything in you to look away from that unforgivingly blank visor.

“So Chewy, who are these people looking for Luke? You checked them out right?” You turned to the door expectantly to meet Chewbacca’s contact as they crossed the doorway. Shaggy brown hair, standard pilot wear topped with a black vest. 

“You’re Captain Solo of the rebellion, I read about you!” You exclaimed as it clicked and you walked towards him eagerly, grabbing his hand to shake.

“That’s right, princess. And who are you? I didn’t know Chewbacca kept such beautiful company,” Han shook your hand good-naturedly and gave you a charmingly lopsided smile. 

“Yena, I’m a friend of Lumpawaroo’s. My boss and I are looking for the Jedi, Luke, for—“ You began to explain when Han suddenly interrupted you. 

“Oh? Your boss, and who would that be?” He turned just as the Mandalorian had pushed off the wall to stand next to you.

“Me,”

“A Mandalorian? Chewy I thought you vouched for these people. How did you not tear his arms off after what happened with Boba Fett?!” Han turned on Chewbacca in anger and something in you bristled. You remembered that name now, he was that bastard who worked for Jabba. You knew his name started with a ‘B’... and an ‘F’! 

“Hey! Mando is not anything like that sleemo!” You defended as you stepped in between Han and Chewbacca. 

“Excuse me if I don’t trust your judgement, sweetheart,” Han remarked sarcastically before rounding on Mando.

“And you, I don’t like your kind. There’s no honor in what you do. Bounty Hunter scum,“ He crowded up against the Mandalorian’s helmet and spoke lowly. 

“What do you know of me and my honor?” You heard the shape edge to the Mandalorian’s voice and stepped in. 

“Enough,” You commanded, “We don’t have time for this. We’ve got a kid growing stronger and stronger everyday in this–this ‘Force’ and we _need_ Luke. Can you tell us where he is or not?”

“Why should I even believe you two? a Mandalorian can barely be trusted to follow after the highest bidder,” Mando reached for his blaster but you stepped in between him and Han again. 

“As if a smuggler is any better!” You snapped and watched as Han turned to lash out at you. 

“That’s right, I know you. I’ve seen your wanted posters and I heard of you on Tatooine. Don’t think that you can act high and mighty now that you’re a war hero, like you’re suddenly better than those who did what they had to do to survive—“

“— _Yena. Han. Enough_ ,” Both you and Han turn at the Wookiee’s words, “ _We’ll discuss this further tomorrow_ ,”

“Chewy—“ Han’s words were cut off as the Wookiee roared aggressively at your group before turning towards the hall for the bedrooms. Han gave you both one last distrustful look before following after him. You sighed wearily and looked down at the kid who had somehow managed to fall asleep on the pile of coloring pages on the floor despite all of the yelling. Kids were something else sometimes.

After a couple of minutes Mando finally broke the silence, “I don’t like him,”

“He’s a smuggler he won’t turn us in without incriminating himself,” 

“That’s not what I’m concerned about,”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To the person who said they’d act up if Han Solo came into the story... I’m only partially sorry. I’ve had this story planned out for like 2 months lol but I hope you’ll stick around cuz Han sure won’t! 👍🏼 
> 
> Also, for those who were wondering. Yes, nearly every single one of Yena’s injuries have been her fault. She’s a dumbass, but at least she knows it.


	22. Pleasure Doing Business With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I’m nice men.

* * *

  
_After a couple of minutes Mando finally broke the silence, “I don’t like him,”_   
_“He’s a smuggler he won’t turn us in without incriminating himself,”_   
_“That’s not what I’m concerned about,”_

  
  


“So... What you’re trying to tell me is that this—“ He made a point to jab his eating utensil over towards Drlukkyyy, “—Little green baby is a Jedi, and that it’s the same kind of species as the Jedi Master who trained Luke 6 years ago... And you need Luke to train it or to help you return it to its people?”

You grimaced and held the child protectively in your lap as Han reiterated the main points of Mando’s journey. He kept eyeing the three of you like he wasn’t sure that he believed you. It wasn’t like he had a friend who was a Jedi Knight and part of a wiped out religious group of warriors that used magic and lightsabers... but sure, your story was the crazy one. 

“Yes,” Both you and Mando answered in simultaneous annoyance. 

Han eyed you both again, then leaned forward with a smirk, “So what’s the story between you two then?” 

“What?” You questioned. 

“You told me the kid’s story. You didn’t tell me yours, neither of you,” Han cut his eyes to the Mandalorian next to you. 

“I didn’t realize that was part of the deal,” Mando leveled his visor straight at Han’s eye line. 

You grimaced, it felt like you were caught in the middle of a loth-cat fight. 

“The deal is whatever I want it to be. We’re not moving off this planet until I say so,” Han enunciated forcefully and you scoffed loudly. 

“Alright, that’s enough. Whatever problem you’ve got against us, say it clearly. We’ve told you everything important, so we need to stop wasting time and find Luke! We have Imps after this baby,” You exclaimed in exasperation, “Chewy, tell him!”

“Hey! You don’t get to call him Chewy,”

“ _I’m surrounded by children_ ,” Chewbacca groused. 

“Alright. What do you want? Money?” Mando asked as he slammed a pouch of credits on the table, “Take it, and shut up,”

Suddenly, the most sincere expression crossed Han’s face as he smiled and grabbed the money, “Pleasure doing business with you,”

Your face contorted into something vaguely resembling disgust and confusion as you watched Han count his money. You couldn’t believe that this was how the argument got resolved. You looked over at Chewbacca while gesturing at Han and all he had to give you was a shrug. 

“So... that’s it?” You asked incredulously while giving Mando a face when Han wasn’t looking.

“Sure is, sweetheart. Grab your frog kid and we’ll head out” Han grinned and got up from the table. 

“Where are we headed?” Mando asked as he also rose up from his seat and you followed suit with a squirmy baby.

“Chandrila—“

And then nearly dropped him. 

“—What? I-I thought... Not Hosnian Prime?” You stuttered through your question as you felt the blood drain from your face.

“No, Luke’s sister is on Chandrila. She’s a senator and also the only who knows where he could be,” Han stopped and sized you up, “Is that a problem?”

You felt like your limbs were too heavy for your body but you just gave him a weak nod.

“No... No problem,” 

You felt everyone’s eyes on you so you put on a brave face. Now was not the time to break down, now was the time to be strong. The odds of running into Odell on Chandrila were small, even in Hanna City... Right? Right. You had to believe that or you’d go insane. Before you could fall too far into your thoughts, you startled at the touch of leather against your elbow. 

“Are you alright with this?” 

Mando’s voice was soft as he huddled close to you and it made something inside of you flutter. You turned away from him and tried to wave him off but he tipped your face up with a gentle hand under your chin. His visor felt too scrutinizing as he tilted his head to meet your gaze. 

“I know you’re worried about your sister,” He started, “We don’t have to do this,”

Your lips parted in surprise. You hadn’t been expecting this much kindness, the baby was far more important than a family feud. You knew there wasn’t any other choice but to go, if it meant Luke, if it meant a safe home for Drlukkyyy, you would go. You breathed out slowly and gave him a soft nod. 

“I’ll be fine, it’s a big planet,”

Drlukkyyy squealed and grabbed onto Mando’s arm as his hand rested under your chin. You chuckled at his very obvious adoration for the Mandalorian, and gave him a tickle before handing him over. You still had stuff left to pack and you couldn’t do it with the baby pulling out everything you put away. 

“We’ll meet on the ship. I’ll finish up here,” You waved them off and smiled at Mando when he turned in the doorway to look at you again as if to say ‘are you sure?’. 

“Seriously, what’s the story between you two?” Han’s voice startled you as you jumped forward and whirled around. 

“Kriff!” You held a hand over your heart and gave him an annoyed look, “What?”

“You seem a little too chummy to just be crew-mates. You two a thing?” Han gave you an eyebrow waggle and a smirk that had you briefly jumping back to that night but you nixed that thought before the blush rose.

“He’s my boss,” You deadpanned and made to go to your room to pack.

“That’s not a ‘No’,” He nearly sang as he blocked your way, you groaned and tried to side step him. 

“You’re very nosey, Captain Solo,” 

“I’m just trying to get to know my new friend,” Han replied as he slung an arm over your shoulders.

“Don’t insult me like that, Solo. I’m not interested in being your kind of ‘friend’,” You shrugged his arm off and he put on a face of mock hurt.

“I’ll have you know that I am happily married. 6 year anniversary is coming up, actually,” His soft smile turned into a smirk, “Where’s your head at? My ‘kind of friend’?”

“Congratulations,” You deadpanned, “Remember that I’ve heard of you. You were on Tatooine long enough,”

You finally walked in to the guest room and started to pack. Unfortunately, ‘Captain Solo’ followed after you. You watched as he made himself comfortable on the bed and you sighed. You had hoped that meeting a war hero meant like the Princess of Alderaan, or any one of the pilots from the Battle of Yavin, or even a Captain Solo that wasn’t a nosey asshole. But, here you both were as you stared him down from the end of the bed and he gave you a cheeky grin. 

“So you’re from Tatooine, kid?” You weren’t that young, why did everyone insist on calling you that. 

“Yep, born and raised in that sandy hell,” You sighed and turned back to the toys on the floor.

“Luke is from Tatooine too. You guys know each other?” Han voices from the bed and you looked up at him incredulously. 

“... It’s a big planet. Not like I know every moisture farmer near Mos Eisley,” You snarked and to your surprise he let out a loud laugh.  
  
“You’re feisty, I like you. Well, come on. Hurry up. I wanna leave before I go gray,” He replied and finally climbed off the bed and left the room. 

You stared after him for a few minutes, wondering where you went wrong to let your life turn out like this. There were, honestly, probably too many instances to point out any one particular moment. Though you did agree with yourself that it was probably when you went out of your way to save the Mandalorian. 

Which one of the two times though was still undecided.   
  


* * *

You climbed up to the cockpit and found Drlukkyyy sitting on Mando’s lap with his favorite silver ball. You had been in hyperspace for a couple of hours already and it seemed like you’d be on Chandrila soon. Han had said that this Wookiee hyperspace lane would cut the trip by half, you just weren’t sure if you believed him until now. The man was infuriating, but he was a good pilot. 

“Seems that Solo was right,” Mando mirrored your thoughts out loud and you smiled to yourself.

“Guess so. How much longer then?” You grabbed the kid and sat in the copilot’s seat.

“Six hours,” 

“I’ll take nine hours over three days,” You mumbled to yourself as you settled into your chair. 

Mando glanced your way and you quirked an eyebrow at him. He seemed to be in a better mood now that you were in space, at least compared to the past month on Kashyyyk. You were still a little thrown off by his display at Chewbacca’s house before you’d left. However, you were determined to keep things from getting out of hand again, you couldn’t go a whole other month like this again. 

“Something on my face, Mando?” You teased with a smirk.

You weren’t at all surprised that he had simply decided to turn back to steering. You gave him a snort and leaned back to take a nap when you felt little feet press right against your stomach. You almost forgot that you had the kid in your lap. You grunted in discomfort as you felt them press higher and opened an eye to peer down into Drlukkyyy’s own. He gave you a smile and then tried to stick a claw up your nose. So much for a nap. 

“Alright, ok. Let’s not play with my nose— _Oof!_ Or on my stomach,” You placed him down onto the floor and sat up, “I guess it’s time to play. We’ll be in the hold,”

“Don’t make a mess,” He threw over his shoulder and your eyebrows almost met your hairline at that.   
  


“Us? A mess? Mando, have some faith,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone
> 
> Sorry for such a big delay. I had a hard time with this chapter and I’ve been struggling with some personal issues that I’ve been putting off. Anyway I decided that even though this is pretty short I liked the stopping point here and it got enough explanation across that I could hit the next chapter more easily.


	23. Senator Organa

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Your Friend Is Quite The Mercenary. I Wonder If He Really Cares About Anything. Or Anybody."
> 
> — Princess Leia of Alderaan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I have returned. 
> 
> Sorry for the delay I’ve had some... issues. Both with this chapter and some other things, but I believe that I will have a more regular schedule moving forward these days. If you care to know more feel free to read the bottom of the page for a more detailed run down. 
> 
> Thanks for keeping up with this and being patient!

* * *

  
_“Don’t make a mess,”  
_   
_“Us? A mess? Mando, have some faith,”_

  
  
“I literally gave you one request,”

“It’s not my fault! He did the force thing and pulled everything towards him,” You defended with a wave of your hands.

He gave you a disbelieving snort as you both made your way down the ramp, with you making a face at the kid as he smiled at you from his arms. The little womp rat had decided to test out his new powers on the cargo hold, nearly wrecking the carbonizer and almost knocking the both of you into next week. You’d just managed to jump in front of the kid when Mando had come barreling down the ladder and caught the moment you took a wooden toy to the face. To say you were embarrassed would have been an understatement, especially after the silence that followed as Mando stared you and the kid down before making his way back upstairs. The following hour was then spent cleaning up the cargo hold in awkward silence until you landed on Chandrila. 

“Where’s Han anyway? Did we get the right landing pad?” The fact that you were landing on a specific platform instead of the space port had you on edge, even if you did doubt that Han would sell you out. Mando’s stiff posture next to you told you he was feeling much the same.

“A Mandalorian. I never thought I’d see another one in my life time,” 

Mando protectively pushed you behind him as a sudden voice rang out to your left. When you both turned to meet them your eyes widened as one of the most beautiful women you’d ever seen walked towards you, and instantly you recognized her smile from the wanted pucks and holocons from the space station. You obnoxiously swatted at Mando’s arm as you tried, and failed, to contain your glee. 

“Mando! That’s Princess Leia Organa from Alderaan, one of the driving forces of the rebellion—“

“Thank you, but I’m not really a princess anymore,” She laughed good-naturedly as she approached, “Senator Organa is my new title these days, but Leia will do just fine between us,”

“We were expecting Han Solo,” Mando replied uneasily and the reality of your situation broke through your awestruck daze, bounty hunters weren’t really the kind of company that princesses or senators kept. The two of you had been planet hopping through the outer rim, mostly to stay away from Imps, but it wasn’t as if the New Republic was any more favorable towards Mandalorians or any company they kept. 

“Oh, yes. Han—“ Senator Organa was interrupted by her protective detail parting as Han bounded up the steps.

“Hey, sweetheart. Sorry for the delay, since I gave these guys the landing pad it was a longer walk from the hangar,” Han sauntered up and dropped a gentle kiss on the Senator’s cheek as she beamed up at him. 

You shot Mando an incredulous look as he shrugged at the scene. You hadn’t expected for Han to end up with a princess, let alone the one in front of you, the one who had practically rallied the rebellion behind her single-handedly. You spluttered for a moment as you gathered your thoughts, realizing that this was the wife he mentioned being ‘happily married to for the past 6 years’. For a brief moment an ugly feeling settled in chest.

“W-wait. Sweetheart? Princess— Senator Organa— I?”

“Don’t hurt yourself, kid. It ain’t that hard,” Han shot you a wink before beckoning you three down into their home. You followed behind them dumbly, still trying to play catch up when Mando nudged you with an elbow. You fell back into the moment and realized that Senator Organa was looking back at you with a wry smile that made you realize you had missed something.

“I’m sorry, what?” You eloquently asked. You could feel Mando’s subtle and silent amusement at your expense.

“I had asked for your names,” She laughed easily, “I realized I didn’t have the chance for introductions since you already knew mine,”

“Oh, I’m Yena. Mando and I are looking for Luke Skywalker,” You supplied quickly as you entered a grand open entertainment area in the Senator’s suite. 

“Oh, yes. Han told me as much in his communication,” She gave you another smile and gestured towards the seating area full of expensive and plush sofas, “Please, sit. We have a lot to discuss before we can settle down,”

You balked as you realized how down to business the Senator was despite the easy smile she gave you. The glint in her eye as she looked over the three of you made you realize how scrupulous politicians had to be. You swallowed the lump in your throat and glanced at Mando by your side, holding Drlukkyyy protectively in his lap as he sat stiffly. You followed suit and perched at the edge of the seat, noticing your inelegant posture when you saw the primly seated Princess next to Han’s easy going slouch. 

“Han mentioned the child being strong in the Force. I assume that is why a Mandalorian bounty hunter and a young girl would be looking for my brother,” 

Why did everyone assume you were so young? You knew you didn’t look exactly your age but it wasn’t like you’d just come of age. Wait... she said brother. You looked at the Senator carefully, you hadn’t realized that she would be the sister. You had assumed that you were here because of Han and that she was his connection to another war hero who would lead you to Luke’s sister. Then she turned out to be his wife and you had yet again assumed that they’d just be gatekeepers to Luke’s location. It dawned on you just how interconnected this group truly was. 

“He is my foundling. It is The Way to care for him until I have returned him to his people. The only clue we have came from Chewbacca about Luke and his Jedi Master,” Mando’s modulated voice rang cleat through the tense silence. You could tell that the pair in front of you definitely did not care for Mandalorians with the way they were glaring you down.

“We... are just trying to do right by the child,” You added on as you reached for Drlukkyyy’s tiny hand and glancing carefully at Mando from the corner of your eye. 

“How did you come across him?” You felt Mando stiffen next to you at the question. You had never thought to ask, you felt like it wasn’t really your place since you barely knew Mando before and he had told you then that Drlukkyyy was his foundling. And then after your impromptu ‘getting-to-know-each-other’ nights had ended, it didn’t seem necessary to try and ask for more.

“... He was a bounty. An imperial remnant contracted me a year ago to find and bring them an ‘asset’. I wasn’t given anything other than a location and the age. I was expecting a 50 year old, not a child.” His voice was strained as he spoke and you felt Senator Organa’s eyes on you as you looked on at Mando and shifted uncomfortably.

“So you delivered him. That much beskar is hard to come by, they paid you well,” Han finished. 

“You don’t know that—!” You interrupted heatedly only to have Mando place a hand in front of you.

“I did,” He croaked, “And then I went back for him. The Corps teaches you a lot of things... Detachment being the most important. I am trying to do right by him, I’m trying to regain my honor,” 

A stiff silence sat over your group and you took in the implications of Mando’s story. You knew he was a hard man, a killer, capable of many things. It wasn’t... _surprising_ , but you had seen him with Drlukkyyy. Night time routines, feedings, changings, playtimes where he’d fall over with a metallic clang against the cargo hold floor as Drlukkyyy sat on his chest and squealed in victory. You couldn’t fault him anymore than he already had, in your eyes he’d made his choice. He’d taken on his foundling and made right by him, if the complete and total adoration in Drlukkyyy’s eyes was anything to go by. 

“How do you fit in?” Senator Organa turned sharp eyes on you and you jumped at the sudden question.

“I met Mando a couple of months ago... Saved him and Drlukk— the child— from opposing bounty hunters on a space station in the Outer Rim near Naboo,” You glanced back at him quickly and found him looking your way, “He asked me to be a part of his crew, watch the kid, and maintain the ship,”

“You seem a little young,” Han piped up and you gaped at him. 

“Maker, how old do you all think I am? I’m 25, hardly a child,”

“Really? You look like you’ve only just become legal to drink alcohol,” Han chuckled and you scowled.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh. I know how frustrating it is to be talked down to because of how young you look,” Senator Organa gave you a sympathetic smile. While you did appreciate the sentiment, you didn’t really need someone to pander to you. You understood that they were protecting Luke, but the three of you couldn’t just hang around waiting or evading the Imps forever.

“Look, we know that you don’t trust us. We want to remedy that, but we need to find Luke and learn more about his master,” 

“Chewbacca recognized the child as the same species as Luke’s Jedi master. We spent a month under his supervision, if that’s not enough then we’ll venture out on our own,” Mando made to stand up and you followed his lead until Senator Organa stopped you with a sigh. 

“That won’t be necessary. I apologize for our interrogation, but you must understand... Luke is the first Jedi since the Purge,” Senator Organa leveled you both with a worried gaze, “And while we know you’re not Boba Fett, we’ve had a rather unsavory experience with a Mandalorian. We’re trying to be cautious,”

You all stood around awkwardly for a moment before Han clapped his hands together and seemingly made the decision. He made some comment about rooms being available and that you could use their son’s old crib for Drlukkyyy to sleep in. You hadn’t realized that they had a child, and as Han led you three down the hall you looked back to the Senator as she gave you a tight smile. 

Being in politics had its upsides if the Organa-Solo household was any indicator. Han had led you and Mando to your own guest rooms with the option of using their 5 year old’s nursery with a surveillance camera for Drlukkyyy. You thought that your family had had it made with the fact that only the youngest two had to share a room. Chandrila was definitely leagues away from life on Tatooine. 

You looked out towards the city from your window, the towering skyscrapers and bustling speeders were overwhelming and you wondered how long you’d stay here before you got any word on Luke’s whereabouts. You hoped it wouldn’t be long, that you could leave this place behind before you started to feel like you were suffocating. She was out there, just living her life, carrying her grief and resentment, and praying for your death probably. Your fingers found the smooth beads resting against your collarbone, rubbing them absentmindedly as your mind continued to spin, and spin, _and spin_ —

You heard loud purposeful steps and smiled to yourself at his effort, “You alright?”

“Hey Mando, I’m fine. Where’s Drlukkyyy?” You fixed your mood and turned to greet him as he walked up to you at the window. He stared out into the city as well for a moment before speaking.

“With Han’s son. It’s nice... that he’s getting to play with kids again,” Well that got your attention. 

“Again?” You smiled as he turned to you.

“We were in a village on Sorgan for a while. Lots of kids, they all liked him. Almost left him there, so he could grow up normal... It didn’t work out,” His shoulders dropped slightly and you realized the weight he was carrying. 

“He’s better off with us,” You replied softly and you both stiffened for a moment as you realized what you said.

“Until we find his people. Finding his people or the Jedi is a better fit with the way his powers are growing,” You cleared your throat lamely and both of you turned back to the window. 

“May I come in?” Senator Organa’s voice rand clear in the room and you turned to greet her. 

“Of course, Senator,” You gave her a small smile and she shook her head.

“I told you, Leia is fine between us,” She walked closer and looked between you too with a scrutinizing gaze, “I hope I’m not interrupting, I wanted to see if you and your partner would be inclined to join Han and I tonight for an... event, if you will,”

“An event?” Even through the vocoder his voice sounded wary.

“We’ve been invited to attend a gala at the Skygarden, and while we certainly know how to hold our own... We’ve been having some security threats lately,” Leia turned to face him, “We know Mandalorians are a force to be reckoned with and we would like to contract you both as security escorts for the night,”

“Oh... I’m not a bounty hunter, I wouldn’t be any help,” You gave her a sheepish smile, “Mando would be your safest bet, but he’d be pretty noticeable,”

“That’s what we’re counting on,” Leia smiled conspiratorially.

* * *

The Skygarden of Hanna City was a sight to behold, and honestly something you hadn’t been expecting to witness. However, when Leia had learned that you were expecting to stay and watch the children she had vehemently pushed you into her chambers while telling Han and Mando that you both would meet them there. Which is how you found yourself now, hesitantly following behind the Senator as you walked into the garden wearing the finest gown you had ever put your grubby little hands on. 

You self-consciously adjusted the one shoulder neckline right as Leia turned and brushed your hands away. You felt out of place and more than a little naked without your father’s necklace around your neck. At least you still had your beads, sections of your hair had been twisted away from your face and secured at the back with them. The rest of your hair laid loose and curled down your back with delicate silver earrings framing your face. Leia had really done the Maker’s work on you, you had to hand it to her. You’d spent the entire time that she was getting ready just looking at yourself in her mirror trying to make sure that your reflection was really you sitting across from it. You looked so much like your mother. 

“Stop fidgeting. You look stunning,” Leia gave you a reassuring smile as she adjusted the sleeves of your gown. 

“I feel very out of my depth here,” You admitted nervously as you peered over her shoulder at the people mingling inside. 

“Trust me, you’ll fit right in,” She replied as she linked arms with you and didn’t give you much of a choice otherwise. 

You stifled a laugh at the ridiculousness of the situation. You never thought you’d be here, pretending to be someone important while your Mandalorian boss played bodyguard for a Princess and a scoundrel. You discretely tried to scan the crowd for Mando’s beskar covered head as you mingled with the other Senators.

“So... You and the Mandalorian?” Leia nudged you knowingly. 

“Oh! No, no, it’s not like that,” You spluttered for a moment as your heart leaped at the thought before reality sunk in. 

You’d been so busy looking clues, and forcing yourself into a routine of normalcy for Drlukkyyy and yourself, since you’d landed on Kashyyyk, that you almost forgot. Now, with Han and Leia asking you about him, it suddenly made everything real again. You’d been stupid to instigate things that night, to ask more of him than he could give, even if it hadn’t been intentional. You had gotten sucked in by the mystery and the familiarity of him, and that same childish desire of seeing him as if that would help you _know_ him. You didn’t want to say that you knew him now, but that was the appeal, you were learning. Suddenly, you realized that you _liked_ him, and not in spite of the armor or because of it, but because of _him_. But it didn’t make sense now, he’d made his decision and it wasn’t to say that he couldn’t change his mind, but it wasn’t your place to do that just because you’d had a revelation. 

“We’re just crewmates. He... He doesn’t think of me like that,” You replied with a sad smile as your eyes finally landed and met his visor. 

“Oh? Well, if that’s the case then why hasn’t he stopped looking this way since you walked in here wearing that dress?”

You tore your eyes away and laughed softly, “He’s my friend,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, 
> 
> If you’re reading this then I’m assuming that you all kind of give a fuck lol. I’ve been struggling with my depression and anxiety these days and I’ve been in a funk that has been pretty hard to shake off. I’m getting help and meds so that’s keeping me going! I haven’t given up on this story and it’s all planned out until the end so don’t fret if I take a bit longer than I used to to get stuff out. 
> 
> Anyways, if any of want to see what I envisioned Yena looking like for this chapter look at the link below and substitute the colors for navy blue and silver.
> 
> https://m.famousfix.com/post/lena-headey-as-queen-gorgo-in-300-2006-16025985
> 
> As always, thank you all for the kudos and comments!


	24. Nice Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ke barjurir gar'ade, jagyc'ade kot'la a dalyc'ade kotla'shya.
> 
> “Train your sons to be strong but your daughters to be stronger."
> 
> — Mandalorian adage

* * *

  
  


_ “Oh? Well, if that’s the case then why hasn’t he stopped looking this way since you walked in here wearing that dress?” _

_ You tore your eyes away and laughed softly, “He’s my friend,”  _

  
  
The Razor Crest echoed his steps back to him as he walked up the ramp to the weapons locker. He threw the doors open and faced the blasters staring down at him. They were mocking him, ‘This is what you’ve become.  **_ Soft _ ** . A gun for hire for the rich to gawk at.’ He grimaced at the bitter taste that thought left in his mouth, especially since for whatever reason, he heard all of that in Paz’s voice. 

He methodically chose and holstered his weapons, as much as he was dreading tonight at least it gave him the opportunity to clean and load guns he hadn’t used in months. Life on Kashyyyk had been peaceful, a little too peaceful. Outside of running Rising Phoenix drills over the trees and shooting at the more dangerous fauna that tried to break into the city, all he had really done was clean, workout, and run diagnostics on the Razor Crest. The most he’d had to worry about had been the kid falling off a tree, or you for that matter. Your head smacking against that tree after your stupid ‘Feat of Bravery’ flashed through his mind and he sighed. 

You weren’t a kid, despite your attitude at times, but you were young and maybe a little too daring in an effort to overcompensate for things. Though the stupid and disarmingly charming smile you had thrown at him when he caught you had been added to a subconscious collection that he pretended he hadn’t been keeping. Now here the three of you were, attending some gala for extra money, or bribery, just so you could find the kid’s family. 

_ He’s better off with us...  _

You had said it but you hadn’t meant it the way that it had bounced around in his head. That the three of you could be together,  a family . He ignored the surprisingly longing pang that thought had suddenly brought him, feeling guilty at his subtle betrayal against the code that saved his life. The Covert was his family, the foundlings were his family, and when this journey ended he’d go and find them. This was always going to be temporary, but the little womp rat had gotten underneath his skin, and now you knew the real reason why he struggled to connect with the kid. He owed the kid, owed him a good life, _ a long life _ , and that couldn’t be with him. 

A gun for hire, that’s what he was, so that’s what he needed to focus on. An extra two blasters, some whistling birds that he’d found stashed away in a corner, the jet pack, and his rifle slung across his back. You had a pair of blasters hidden away, so you said, as you covertly watched over Senator Organa herself. He knew you were a good shot, you’d shown it multiple times, but the Skygarden was a large open space hovering over the city. So as he walked across the landing pad to meet Han in the speeder, all he could think about was how he hoped this wouldn’t end up being a shit show. 

“You look like you’re ready to break down a fortress,” Han quipped.

“Can’t be too prepared,”

Though after arriving and circling the perimeter of the Skygarden twice since then, the stray thought that maybe he could be too prepared made Mando snort quietly to himself. He was about to start off on his third lap when Han ambled up next to him and suggested that maybe he should just find a corner to stand in a for while. Apparently, he’d been making some of the politicians nervous. In his experience though, the nervous ones usually had a reason to be. Regardless, he leaned back against the railing near an exotic flower of some kind and attempted to look marginally less threatening. The wary eyes that unknowingly met his through the visor as he surveyed the area told him that he wasn’t very successful. 

“I wouldn’t be surprised if you gave someone a heart attack tonight. Half of these geezers look ready,” Han murmured next to him as he sipped on some kind of blue alcohol. He really did look every bit the part of the ‘dutiful trophy husband’, even as he tugged at the collar of his overcoat.

“You should call the medics now then,” Mando deadpanned and Han spluttered into his drink. 

“You’re pretty funny despite the bucket,” Han chuckled and Mando shifted his eyes over to the entrance of the gardens as movement caught his eye. 

“I’ll be sure to tell my Alor that her training was unsuccessful...” Mando’s voice trailed off when he saw Senator Organa enter the gardens with your arm linked through hers. 

His visor’s filter siphoned a lot of the color out of daily life. It had been jarring when he’d first taken the mantle on so many years ago, but now he nearly thanked it since you had somehow made the gardens three times brighter. The material of the dress was dark, a flash of silver around your neckline and sleeves that seemed to match the beads in your hair. You were overwhelmingly beautiful. Suddenly, your eyes met his and he held back a shudder at the way you seemed to see right through him. Your eyes were piercing and sad and you smiled at him softly before ducking your head with a laugh.

“She’s a sight, huh?” Mando startled as Han piped up next to him, “You better make a move before someone else does,” 

The sudden thought of you going off with someone else settled in his stomach wrong and Mando made a show of pointedly ignoring Han by scanning through the crowd before rounding the perimeter of the garden again. The Skygardens were filling up now, but it was too quiet. Everyone avoided him, which was fine, great even, it wasn’t as if he wanted to have a conversation. He felt off though, seeing you with Senator Organa and not walking with him. It felt like you were the job and not his partner. His steps faltered for a moment as that thought sank in. When had he started thinking of you as his partner instead of something else? The girl who’d rescued him? His employee? His kid’s caretaker? None of those really fit anymore, if they ever did. 

_  
His rifle? _

He fingered the strap to said rifle for a moment as he stopped close enough to you and Senator Organa to be useful, but not be overbearing. He watched you fidget with your hair and dress as you tried to edge yourself closer to the outside railings. You were uncomfortable, and it wasn’t until your back had ended up facing him that he remembered the mottled scar that covered the expanse of it. Your hair and dress hid most of it, but he could feel the anxiety rolling off of you as you glanced around and offered platitudes and tight smiles to the dignitary who had somehow pinned you to a spot near one of the trees when you’d tried to break away from the group. Mando shifted through the crowd and began making his way towards you when the senator began to crowd you. That same sour feeling from earlier dropped into his stomach as he watched the senator try to brush your hair back. However, when you visibly recoiled from his touch, Mando was at your side ripping the man’s hand away before the implications of his actions caught up with him. 

“Are you alright?” Mando grit out, the role of loyal bodyguard slipped over him without a second thought. His hand rested steadily underneath your elbow as he wedged himself in between you and the senator. The grip on the senator’s arm turned steely when the man tried to wrench it out of his hold. 

“Yes, thank you. Senator Hala here was just leaving. Wasn’t that right,  **_ Senator _ ** ?” You rested a hand on his vambrace as you turned to the senator and gave him a saccharine smile. Mando released the man’s arm and watched as his eyes shifted between the two of you, causing you to subconsciously shift closer into the Mandalorian’s side.

“Yes, I was. I’m afraid I have a lot of  _ important affairs _ to tend to,” He gave you both a sneer as he turned away and stalked off. 

When you sighed in relief Mando turned to you and looked you over, “Did he hurt you?”

“No, no, I’m fine. I’m just very turned off by  _ Senator Hala _ ,” You mimicked the nasal tone of the Senator and a soft laugh slipped through his lips as a smile stretched over yours. 

He reached out and absentmindedly brushed a stray lock of hair away from you face. Your next sentence trailed off as gazed up at him, your lips parted in surprise at the way his fingers had curled around your ear. He was instantly reminded of how you’d looked up at him that night you’d spent together, and for the first time in years he wondered what it be like to feel someone else’s lips pressed against his own. Then just as quickly he buried that thought, he was falling in too deep again, he couldn’t forget that this was temporary. He skimmed his hand up to chuck your chin, effectively breaking whatever spell had come over the two of you in the middle of a crowded gala. You shook your head lightly and laughed while rapping your knuckles twice against his chest plate. 

“I should get back to Senator Organa,” You replied easily as you began to turn back to the party with a shake of your head. He turned and caught a glimpse of the sly smile the Senator was trying to hide behind her wine glass. 

“I’m sure she’d appreciate that,” He mumbled to himself as Senator Organa threw him a wink. He turned his gaze back to the crowd but suddenly, and with a force he hadn’t expected, you had whirled around and gripped onto his upper arms. Your nails pressed into his skin through his shirt and when he glanced down to ask you what happened all he saw was the top of your head and your trembling shoulders. 

“Yena—“ You frantically reached out and covered his helmet with your hands.

“ **No!** Don’t say my name,” 

“ ** What’s wrong? ** ” He stressed the words as he gently pulled your hands off of his faceplate. 

“My sister... She-She’s here. I think she saw me,” Mando looked up and, sure enough, he saw who you were talking about. The resemblance was hard to miss, she was definitely related to you, even if her eyes held a much harder edge than yours. There was also no escaping the flash of recognition that passed over her face when she noticed him. 

“She did and she recognized me. She’s coming this way,” He hesitantly placed his hands on your shoulders and tried to maneuver you into looking at him, “There’s still a chance. We can get out of here... Take the jet pack,”

You gave him a hollow laugh as you continued to stare at his chest plate. Your eyes reflected the dull shine of the beskar but when he shifted to guide you to the exit you stopped him. Whatever you saw in the blurry reflection off of his cuirass must have been enough for you to decide since you gave his hands, which he hadn’t realized you were still holding, a firm squeeze before turning to face your sister. You squared your shoulders and your posture said nothing about the scared young woman you were just seconds before. 

“What are you doing here?” She hissed as she finally neared you both.

“Hello, Odell. How have you been, sister?” You replied with an air of nonchalance betrayed only by the way he noticed your tightly fisted hands around your dress. 

“How dare you? Are you gate crashing or just a fraud?”

“Neither. I’m working,” You remarked evenly.

Odell scoffed harshly at your words and finally lifted her eyes to address him, “Of course you found him. Your little obsession always was more important than your family. Are you whoring yourself out to him—“

The sudden and sharp ring of your hand against her cheek brought the attention of your hosts, as Leia, Han and a few others stopped to see the cause of the sudden commotion. Mando stared down at you in shock, then at Odell as she held her swollen cheek, but you simply pulled the small corded bracelet from your wrist and combed through your hair to gather the beads there. 

“You can think badly of me. You can call me names, or spit at me, or accuse me ofwhatever you want to make yourself feel better about what happened while you were already gone and living a better life. But you  _ don’t _ get to talk about him,” You held you hand out solemnly and brandished all of your polished metal beads to her. He felt a pang at the realization that you were defending him as you let go of the last thing holding you to the memory of your parents. That you were renouncing your own blood. 

“Is everything alright?” Leia’s voice cut through but you soldiered on.

“Here. This is what you really want, isn’t it? Proof that your sister died,” You remarked cooly, “Take them. Maybe you’ll finally be able to move on,”

When Odell didn’t immediately grab them, you reached out and pushed them into her hands. She flinched at your touch but gripped the beads in a tight fist nonetheless. You stared her down for a moment before answering Leia’s question.

“Everything’s fine, Senator. I’m sorry for involving you in personal matters. If it’s alright with you I’d like to take my leave,” 

“... Yes, it’s getting late. We’ll join you,” Leia gestured for Han and the four of you made your way past your sister and towards the exit. 

Mando gave Odell one last look as he walked by, her hands and chin trembling but still refusing to look in your direction.

* * *

The ride back to the house was quiet and awkward but Mando didn’t miss the way your shoulders seemed to relax the further you all went from the gardens. Leia and Han were kind enough to not bring anything up but Mando suspected that the lingering hand hold she had given you before they made their way to their room was a part of an unspoken conversation.He decided to head to the hangar to drop off the majority of his arsenal and give you the opportunity and privacy to talk if you needed.

“I’m... I’m going to go check on Drlukkyyy,” You mumbled to him as you walked past each other. 

He stopped to watch you for a bit though before heading down. The way your hair hung now without the beads twining through it, the soft smile that smoothed over your face as you slipped the door open to the nursery and just watched the kid. He watched you and wondered if you wanted more out of life than just getting by with him. You turned towards him, he must have been staring for too long. Your smile had faded and as you closed the door to the child’s room you faltered for a moment. If you wanted to talk he would listen. He was patient, and he was good at being quiet.

“Do you miss your family? On Mandalore?” Your spoke slowly, your eyes focused on something he couldn’t see on the carpet. 

He swallowed the lump in his throat and allowed himself a single moment to be vulnerable with you, “... I’m not from Mandalore. I was a foundling... but yes, I miss my family and my tribe,”

“Do you... Do you judge me for giving up what’s left of mine?” You looked up at him with watery eyes.

He considered himself a hard man, a killer, as much of a Mandalorian as he could be without having been born in it. Born again and raised in the Death Watch Corps with every ounce of fear and compassion for the outside world beaten out of him. But the broken girl standing in front of him, the one he hadn’t seen since Tatooine, the one who kept trying to be strong... She broke his heart. 

“No... No, I don’t,” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, I am embarrassed at how long it has taken me to post this. This chapter was so hard for me, I rewrote parts, rewatched episodes of The Mandalorian, read fanfics and character analyses, I just kept writing Mando wrong for this chapter. We all know he’s got some kind of feelings for Yena but I was going about it all wrong to get those across without losing all of his Mando-ness. I hope I did him justice, I felt like I got it across that he’s soft but not too soft.


	25. Keldabe Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Your face would look better in between my legs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello all, 
> 
> Welcome to the newest chapter. There are a lot of suggestive themes in this one “eyebrow waggle” so prepare yourself and fan yourself, cuz there’s more to... come. 
> 
> As always, be kind. I am still just a potato pretending to write and quarantine has made me horny 👌🏼

* * *

_“Do you... Do you judge me for giving up what’s left of mine?” You looked up at him with watery eyes._

_“No... No, I don’t,”_

  
Despite how completely bantha shit crazy your life had been lately, you had ~~_wrongly_~~ assumed that after gate crashing a politician’s gala and having an impromptu confrontation with your estranged sister, that things would have simmered down some. You had been more than ready to spend a couple of days just lounging around the Senator’s home and playing with the kiddos, waiting for Leia to manage some kind of contact with Luke. _Easy living_. But, for some Gods forsaken reason, Mando decided that you just had to have your own blaster and that the two of you were going to go out and purchase said blaster... _Like right now_. Nevermind that he had a whole arsenal on the ship, a fact that you had made sure to remind him of. His response?

“Those are mine,” 

“What? You can’t share?” You scoffed from your perch on the window seat, the data pad Leia had lent you long forgotten by now.

“...”

“...”

“... No. You need your own,” He turned and gave a skeptical nod towards the gold plated droid currently dusting a case in the corner, “There’s a nanny here, right?”

“Yes? She’s getting snacks—“

“Good. Let’s go. The... _droid_ can watch the womp rats until she comes back,” He knelt down and gave the kids a small chin tickle and ruffled their heads before shooting you a look and walking out the door.

“We’ll be back, Threepio. Be good for the nanny, Drlukkyyy,” You made sure to smother his little face with kisses until he shoved you away in annoyance. Ben giggled at the display and you tickled his sides before heading out. 

“Oh my! I am not programmed for child care, I am a protocol droid!” C-3PO’s laments fell on deaf ears as you sighed and dutifully followed after the Mandalorian.

You knew better than to argue at this point, the man was insufferable. Mando had made it seem that he’d be in the city looking for work all day, so his sudden change of heart made you wonder what was going through that buckethead of his. But in the end you decided to just shrug it off, a small and sincere hope settling into your heart that this little shopping trip didn’t take long and that nothing crazy happened. 

You were so tired of crazy shit happening.

* * *

“... I kriffing hate you so much right now,” 

Mando sighed as you reminded him, for about the sixth time, just how upset you were about your current situation. 

“This was your idea—“ 

“—I didn’t think we’d get stuck!” You interrupted quickly as you tried to shuffle again. His stuttered breath pressed you harder against the wall of the alley and the bitingly cold beskar chestplate against your breasts. 

“Stop moving!” The harsh command sounded like it was pushed out from in between gritted teeth and you couldn’t help but mirror the sentiment. 

“Stop bossing me around!” You snapped in frustration. 

Of course crazy shit happened, it had been naive of you to hope otherwise. You had to remind yourself that you were hanging around a Mandalorian now, and a well known one at that. And so far, this Mandalorian had a hefty bounty on his little green foster child’s head, and half the galaxy tracking his shiny metal ass. Which meant that now, by default, they were tracking yours. So, of course, Mando had been made almost as soon as you’d walked into the weapon’s dealer, and had instantly urged you out the back door and into the adjacent alley. And that was where you had been met with a bounty hunter of your own, your bounty puck image staring you right in the face as the Rodian bounty hunter pointed his blaster at your chest. 

They must have not been as prepared as they should have been though... or maybe they just hadn’t counted on you being as crazy as your partner, since the knife you pulled out from your sleeve surprised him enough to have his gun slashed out of his grip. That, followed by the sudden head butt into his hypersensitive snout, and you had him down and out in seconds. However, your victory was short lived as Mando burst through the door and hauled you off by the arm, yelling something about reinforcements. After running through back alleys and side streets you managed to hit a dead end, and almost as soon as you did, you started to hear the blaster fire and screaming. 

You’d had the brilliant idea to slide into someone’s gated storage area in between two _very_ close buildings. It really would have been a good idea, if only the space hadn’t been three quarters of the size of the Razor Crest’s refresher with you and a fully armored Mandalorian crammed into it. Nearly an hour later the commotion finally died down and **that** was when you’d both realized that the door only opened from the outside. Now, here the two of you were, frustrated and unbearably close, especially after the two of you had been shuffling around to try and scale the walls to no avail. You sighed and tried to shuffle up the wall again, staring up at the deceptively close ledge above you. 

“Stop,” 

“We can’t just stay here! We have to try something,” You grumbled and shuffled again.

“ _ **Yena**_ ,” Mando’s tight voice and sudden grip on your waist halted your movements and you finally snapped. 

“What—!?” Then you realized...

Oh...

 **Oh**...

You knew you were close, you were pressed up against each other for Star’s sake, you really had no way to truly ignore it. However, you guessed that in your adamant refusal to not let it get to you, you hadn’t really noticed that the more you moved the harsher Mando had started to get. You had chalked it up to being frustrated at being stuck in essentially a closet, or even at just being stuck with _you_ in said closet. You hadn’t thought about the compromising position of your lower half against his. Now his hands were nearly bruising your hips and you were desperately trying to not look at him even though your face was practically pressed into his neck. 

You let out a slow and shaky exhale to try and calm yourself down and think of a way to get your foot out of your mouth. He must have felt the warmth of it through the collar of his shirt though, since he shuddered against you, and for some reason that made you _incredibly_ horny. This looming, predatory, armored man was tense to the point of shaking from being pressed up against you. You swallowed thickly and finally managed to find your voice as you tilted your head back to focus on the task at hand.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t realize—“ You began until he stopped you with a clipped response. 

“It’s fine,” You sucked on your teeth awkwardly and looked back up at the ledge until finally, an epiphany surged through you. 

“I... I think I have an idea to get us out of here. Can you lift me up? I think I can reach the ledge and pull you up with the grappling hook,” 

Mando turned his head to look at the ledge you had your eyes on, before turning back to you right as you looked over him. He seemed to flinch when you made eye contact and his hand reached up for your face, “What happened to your head?”

“My head? What—?” You gingerly touched your forehead and realized you had a big tender patch right in the middle of it, “Oh... **_Oh!_** I head butted the bounty hunter in the alley,” 

“You-You head butted...” Mando let out a soft snort of laughter. 

“What? Is that so hard to believe?” You scoffed petulantly. 

“No, I believe it,” He chuckled before sighing loudly and bracing his back against the alley wall, “Alright. Let’s get out of here then,”

“Oh... Um. Well, here I go! I guess,” 

You tentatively reached out to grab his shoulders, waiting for approval but he simply sighed and lifted you by the hips with a small grunt. You scrambled up onto his shoulders, desperately trying to not think about the fact that both your chest and your crotch were like the only things he could look at right now. Things had been going okay until he squeezed your thigh right as you found your footing, making your step onto his shoulder falter. You leg shot out from underneath you and your core slid directly over the front of his helmet. The sound you made as you fell and caused him to lose his balance and press harder into you was indecently and mortifyingly obscene. The sound echoed over the small space with a mocking lilt as you both froze. 

“... Are you,” Mando’s voice was tight and slow, “Are you alright?”

“Mmhm!” You managed to squeak out as you righted yourself and climbed onto his shoulders again. 

In that moment, you vowed to whatever deity was listening that you’d never do anything illegal again if you could live the rest of your life without being this embarrassed. You got into position quickly, stepping onto his hands and finding your balance as he lifted you up above his head. Your fingers skimmed the edge and you could have cried at how close you were. 

“I’m so close! I’m gonna try to jump,” Mando let out a grunt and you felt him shift as he braced himself. 

You jumped and as your arms wrapped over the edge of the building you let out a cry of triumph. You clambered up and rolled over onto the building, shuffling onto your feet you looked around the roof for something to tie Mando’s grappling hook around so he could rappel up. The ventilation until in the corner would have to do, even if you doubted it would hold the Mandalorian’s weight. 

You leaned over the edge to peer down at the man, “Ok, release as much of the rope as you can and toss it up!” 

“You’re not going to try to pull me up are you?” He shouted up, his voice had an edge of disbelief. 

“No, there’s a ventilation unit up here I can wrap the rope around. Come on, you wanna stay down there or what?” You teased and he gave you an exasperated sigh before pulling the rope from his vambrace. 

A few moments later the rope soared up from below. You tested the length and managed to tie it around a few times before hurrying over to the edge and sitting down with you feet braced and the rope in your hands. You were actually pretty worried about the unit tearing off under the Mandalorian’s weight, the least you could do is help hold him up if it did. 

“Alright! Come up!” You felt him test his weight on the rope as you nearly lurched forward.

Mando was surprisingly agile for how heavy he was, making quick work of the climb. You saw his gloved hand reaching over the ledge and grabbed it firmly, hauling him up onto the roof. The two of you laid on the roof for a bit as you soaked in the relief of freedom. You heard the scrape of his armor against the concrete before long but decided to keep your eyes closed for a minute longer, relishing in the soft breeze that slipped in between the buildings. The sudden stillness was a little unnerving, and a heat crawled over your chest when you felt his eyes on you. You cracked an eye open and met his visor, somehow uncannily aware of his gaze boring into yours. He turned away after a moment, looking out into the city.

“Come on, we should get going,” He held his hand out to help you up and you begrudgingly took it.

“I wish you’d grabbed the jet pack,” You sighed wearily, and his hand held yours for a bit longer after he had hauled you up.   
  
“Too conspicuous,” He looked in the direction you were supposed to take, “And they would have definitively followed us if we’d flown back,”

“Of course,” You sighed, once again following after him as he jumped to the building across the way. 

It really had been too much to hope for a quiet day.

* * *

“What in Maker’s name happened to you two?”

Leia’s voice rang out as the Mandalorian trudged in with you in tow. You were sweaty and exhausted, head thrown back in a groan as you crossed the threshold of the living room. You laid on the cool marble floor in a heap and overheard Leia’s chuckles at your antics. 

“It’s a long story,” Mando’s modulated voice rang out evenly, “But we need to leave soon. Have you heard anything?”

“I’m afraid not. What happened?”

“Bounty Hunters,” You piped up from the floor. 

“Can you stay in the quadrant? We can still get a message out that way,” Leia asked quickly.

Mando was quiet for a moment, looking down at you right as you sat up and looked over at him with a raise of your eyebrows. Leia watched your silent conversation with interest before catching your eye and sending a smirk your way.

“We’ll see,” Mando turned towards Leia right as she schooled her face into a neutral expression. 

With that decided, she shooed you both off to your respective rooms, grousing about how you both reeked to Dantooine and back. You followed after Mando down the hall, trying to decide if you wanted to have this conversation or not. Before he could escape, you reached out and caught his sleeve.

“Mando... Can I talk to you for a moment?” 

He stopped and looked at you, almost apprehensively, and you it was all you could do to awkwardly gesture towards your room. He haltingly walked inside after you waved him in and followed after, closing the door quietly behind you. You took a moment to breathe in deeply before looking over at him. If you hadn’t just spent the past two and a half months with the man, you probably wouldn’t have realized that he seemed as anxious about this talk as you. His shoulders were tense and the soft creaking of leather signaled the constant clenching and unclenching on his hands at his sides. The revelation should have made you feel more at ease, but instead it made some heavy settle into the pit of your stomach. You desperately hoped that you wouldn’t start shaking like some kind lovelorn youngling, when was the last time you had felt this nervous in front of a man? Probably that night on the Razor Crest, actually... _Focus!_ It was time to get this over with.

“I’m- I’m sorry about today,” You grimaced at your stutter.

Mando’s shoulders relaxed and he tilted his head slightly. You straightened your posture under his scrutiny. 

“Why?” 

You floundered a bit at the question, “— _Why?_ Well, because... I spoke rudely to you. And I got us into a messy situation where _I said and did_ a lot of things that made you uncomfortable,”

“Is that what you think?” His voice had a hard edge now and you huffed a disbelieving laugh.

“I mean... Yes,” You sighed and looked around the room as you began to ramble, “Ever since Kashyyyk things have been awkward. Look I get that you don’t find me attractive, and that living and working together makes the situation uncomfortable. I’ve been trying to be respectful and if I had known that closet was so tiny I wouldn’t have put you in that situation—“

In three long strides Mando stood in front of you, startling you into silence.

“You think I don’t find you attractive,” That was definitely not a question.

“... You haven’t given me any reason to think otherwise,” You managed to breathe out in reply. 

He took one more step and you were almost as close as you had been in that closet. You couldn’t look away from his visor, even with his eyes hidden it felt like he’d frozen you to the spot with his gaze. You heard the soft sound of shifting fabric against skin, and his bare hand slowly lifted up to your face. 

“Wh-What are you doing?” You exhaled shakily and his fingertips just barely brushed against your lips.

“Can I touch you?” He rasped and your eyes fluttered close.

“ _Please_ ,” Your voice was nothing more than a needy whisper and it seemed to break whatever self control either of you had. 

His hand tangled into your hair, the other cupping your jaw as his thumb slowly swiped over your bottom lip. Your own hands found purchase on the unarmored parts of his shoulders, trying to keep your legs from collapsing underneath you. You lifted up onto your tiptoes and his arm slid down eagerly to hold you up against him, his hands slipping under your sweater when you lifted your arms to wrap around his neck. You pressed your face into his neck, taking him in with big heady breaths that had him bucking his hips slightly into yours. Just like that the electricity in the air shifted and the two of you were gripping and tugging at each other’s clothes; Mando’s hands sliding over your sides to cup your breasts as you fumbled with his belt and pants. 

“I want to hear that noise you made in the alley again,” Mando grunted into your ear as you bit your lip when he gave a rough tug to one of your nipples. 

“ _Mando_ ,” You whined softly and finally managed to wiggle your hand into the front of his pants. 

Your hand wrapped firmly around the base of his cock and skimmed up to stroke the head. He was just as big as you had thought when you’d felt him through all the layers of clothes he wore. He groaned at feeling and tugged on your own pants roughly, fingers just barely skimming against your lower lips.

“Yena? Can I come in?” Leia’s voice rang out from the closed door and the two of you quickly jumped apart at the interruption. 

You swallowed thickly and struggled to formulate a thought as you stared at the Mandalorian standing a ways in front of you. His chest heaved and his hands clenched as he looked over at the door.

“Yena?” 

Mando turned to you and nodded his head sharply to the bathroom as he straightened his clothes. You hurried over to the bathroom and closed the door quietly. You heard the bedroom door open as Mando answered and hurried to start the shower.

“Oh! I didn’t realize you were in here,” Leia’s voice was laced with suspicion and you hoped she wouldn’t pry.

“She’s in the bathroom. We were going over our plan,” Mando’s reply was even and neutral, as per usual.

“We’ll stay until tomorrow. Then we’ll head to Coruscant and then Gatalenta for three days each, that should give us a week in the quadrant. If nothing comes in from Luke by then we’ll have to venture out into the Unknown Region on our own,” 

“Sounds like a well thought out plan. I’ll try harder to contact Luke. I’m not as strong in the Force as he is yet, but I’ll see if I can get through to him,” Leia replied, then you didn’t hear anything else. 

You assumed they must have left and decided to jump into the shower that you had been pretending to take. Maybe the water could help reality sink in that you and the Mandalorian had just had a very intense moment. You adjusted the water to the coldest setting and stepped in for a fast shower, hoping the temperature would cool off the hot feeling of his hands against your skin. 

Feeling more refreshed after your ice bath, you got dressed quickly and peeked out from your door. You desperately wanted to talk to Mando again, and you didn’t want to run into Leia. His door was closed and no one was in the hall, so you slipped out and made your way over. Of course his door opened right as you walked up it, he shifted backwards a bit when he realized it was you and cleared his throat. 

“... Hi,” You smiled lamely, “Um, about earlier? You— I? —Well, um. Tonight?” 

“Not tonight,” You deflated at his words and the same feeling of embarrassment flooded you. 

“Oh... Ok,” You breathed out heavily and began to turn away when his hand reached out and grabbed the back of your neck, bringing you close to press your forehead against his.

“On the Razor Crest, tomorrow night,” He explained and you felt the blush rise up to your ears, “I don’t want interruptions,”

He stepped back, but kept his hand on your neck. He slowly slid it up to gently grab your chin. And right on cue...

“Oh...” Leia’s voice rang out in the hall and you felt Mando’s hand drop from your face. 

“Am I interrupting something?” Leia’s sly grin was unmistakeable and Mando simply stepped back into his room and closed the door. 

You stood there for a few moments, blinking away what happened, then turned back to Leia and her shit-eating grin. You couldn’t even be mad about it, you were too hung up on the fact that you were officially having a thing with your Mandalorian boss/partner tomorrow night. 

“Leia, I think I died,”

Leia’s laughter rang out clearly as she guided you into the living room for tea.   
  



	26. Betenor (v.) To Sigh

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Verd ori'shya beskar'gam.  
> “A warrior is more than his armor"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Small rewrite for this chapter (only a few changes) because I didn’t like the direction things were going.

* * *

_  
“Can I touch you?” He rasped and your eyes fluttered closed.  _

_ “Please,” _

  
  
  
  


He just kept running those words in his head over and over. The way you’d looked at him, the way you’d sounded, the way you’d  _ felt _ . He ran frustrated hands through his hair trying to calm himself down. He hadn’t wanted to do anything until you were both back on the Crest, some of the reason being that the Senator had a knack for popping up at the worst times. The main reason though, was because once the cold shower had cleared up the fog, he realized he hadn’t wanted this to turn out like it had before. He wasn’t so dense as to not realize he’d been an asshole for the past month, or that keeping his distance from you was no longer an option while still having you onboard the Razor Crest. 

Every wall he’d built up, you just kept climbing over and meeting him on the other side like it was the most logical thing for you to do, to just be  _ there _ next to him. Something kept pulling you two together, despite his best efforts not to let it. The gala had shown him that, hell, the  _ alley _ had shown him that. He couldn’t keep his eyes off of you, he couldn’t not look for you in a room or in a crowd. Even with the both of you trying to avoid the other, you would still end up gravitating closer and closer to each other and now it had finally reached a boiling point. 

He closed his eyes tight and ran a hand over his face. He’d been good until now, making sure to look at you with the eyes of a partner, making good on his promise that you’d be a crew. But now all he could hear was the way your moan echoed off the walls of that alley, and all he could feel was the lingering feeling of your hand wrapped around his cock until it made his toes curl. He wanted to wait, but it felt like everything about you that made his blood boil was right on the forefront of his mind until he finally caved and delved a hand into his sleep pants for relief. He knew that when morning came things would be different, that the guilt he’d been shouldering for the past month and a half over your last encounter would need to be resolved and that he’d have to say something about how he’d been acting. Nothing could happen between the two of you until he fixed that wrong... but for now, he needed the relief of a clear mind that only an orgasm could solve. 

He started off slow, just squeezing the base and imagining that feeling of your skin again, the way your hands had brushed and lingered until he shuddered. He let out a shaky exhale as he pictured you leaning over him; hair loose, dark hungry eyes, and completely bare sitting on his lap. He remembered the way your breasts felt in his palms and he wondered how they’d feel in his mouth instead. His grip tightened slightly around his length, but he continued with a slow and steady pace, trying to keep up with the fantasy. His brain supplied the sound of your voice, that desperate moan, the way you’d whispered his name, and his hand pumped faster. He swiped his thumb over the head of his cock and his hips jolted, his knees drawing up to push his heels against the mattress. He imagined you slowly leaning forward, breasts brushing against his chest until you tucked your head under his chin and pressed a soft kiss on that spot right under his jaw. He never thought that someone’s touch could have seared itself so completely into his skin until your mouth had closed over his pulse and had nearly thrown him into a spiral. A groan bubbled up in his chest but he held it down, the last thing he needed was to let everyone in the house know what he was up to. It had been bad enough to try to get off on the Razor Crest without you knowing, biting his lip until he tasted blood and he came so hard that his head spun. 

The image of you smiled at him as you pulled away and it nearly knocked the breath from his lungs as his hand pumped faster.  _ He was so close. _ He impatiently lowered his pants past his hips for more access as he imagined how your lips might feel against other parts of his skin. He ran a hand over his chest and stomach lightly before finally reaching down to cup his balls, his other hand working frantically to help him reach his end. He imagined you leaning forward slowly, so slowly, until your lips brushed his and that was all he could take. His body felt weightless and heavy all at the same time as he finally came, wave after wave of pressure coursing through him like an electric shock until there was nothing left but a dull buzz. He blinked away the spots in his vision as his breathing evened out and the ringing in his ears quieted. 

He paused when he realized exactly what had thrown him over the edge just then and cleared his throat. His mind reeled at the implications of his fantasy, but he always knew that being a Mandalorian, having the Creed, it meant more than anything and he appreciated it more as he got older. The Fighting Corps had taken him in, raised him, given him a purpose, he owed the covert everything. But now, here you were… and here he was, looking down at the mess he’d left on his shirt and hand. 

He carefully pulled the shirt off and wiped himself off with the clean parts of the material before tossing it in his laundry bag. He’d deal with it in the morning. He haphazardly pulled his sleep pants back up and nearly threw himself back into bed, choosing to ignore the whirling thoughts he had come up with for himself and instead focus on your upcoming departure. Tomorrow would come sooner rather than later, and then you’d all be back on the Razor Crest, back on task to look for a possible answer from a possible figment of legend. But then, other things would change… So, with that thought, he finally settled down and fell asleep.

When morning came, it was already different than it usually was. He actually felt rested, he hadn’t had any nightmares, there hadn’t been any tossing and turning, just the emptiness and restfulness of a dreamless sleep. He felt  _ good _ , and he felt it in his muscles as he ran through his morning routine. He stretched his back along the floor and pulled his legs up to his chest for a moment, then sat up and curled into a ball. He dropped his head between his knees and sighed through the uncomfortable pull along his spine. 

He’d need a break from his armor soon, he was getting older and the weight of full beskar was starting to wear on him. Before you and the kid, he could afford a day or two of working without the safety of the Creed and give his body a rest. Now, it felt like he was more metal than man with how many hours he spent in his armor. He relaxed from his stretch and rolled over for some morning push ups, and his mind rolled over the thought that the last time he’d been armorless around someone had been with Xi’an... and that very next morning she had stabbed him in the shoulder for getting her brother caught by the New Republic, so it didn’t really leave him feeling all too comfortable about that prospect. You weren’t Xi’an though. Not even close, but the idea of getting that close to you still worried him. He’d never truly minded keeping the helmet, or even the armor, on when around Xi’an. Never had any urges or secret fantasies of her touching his skin or face, but you… He shook his head and got up. The more he thought about it, the less it made sense in his head. 

Speaking of you, he should probably get ready and see how you were doing with getting your things packed. So after a less than military shower, spending more time than he probably should have on washing himself, and a sigh of relief that he’d polished his armor before bed, he got dressed and made his way down the hall to check on you and the kid. The little womp rat was still asleep, as far as he could hear when he walked by the room, and apparently so were you from the lack of noise from your end as well. He gave the door a loud knock and waited. 

“Yena,” He paused for a response before knocking again, “Yena, we need to get going,”

A couple of grunts and unintelligible words floated through the door and he took that as a reason to knock again until he heard your frustrated voice. His lips pulled into a hidden smile at the sound. You weren’t much of a morning person. 

“I’m up! Enough, I got the message,” You grunted out and then he heard the telltale thump of a pillow hitting the door. He stood by your door until the bed creaked and your soft angry mutters died down, it was better to be sure that you were up and moving before he turned to walk back to his room for his bags. He figured it was better to start packing up now before the kid woke up and got into everything. He stopped at the sound of baby babble as he walked past the door and his shoulders slumped. The kid had great timing too apparently. 

“Good morning, womp rat,” He greeted as he opened the door and found the little gremlin standing up in the crib. His big eyes lit up and Mando would have had to have been a real cold bastard to deny that the kid was pretty cute. His big ears perked up at his chuckle and he went through the process of changing him and getting his things ready. 

The rest of the morning went by quickly enough. You had gotten up, dressed in comfortable clothes with your hair pulled back into a series of braids, and had your bags slung over your shoulders by the time you came out to the seating area to greet him and the kid. He watched your eyes flicker his way before turning back down to the kid playing on the floor. He saw the tense set of your shoulders as you leaned down to greet the baby; you were nervous. Last night had been more than you both had anticipated, he wondered if you’d taken matters into your own hands like he had. The image of you naked in bed with your hand in between your legs and your face twisted in pleasure as you fondled your own breast flashed through his mind but he swallowed it down quickly. 

“Sleep well?” He cleared his throat softly, then asked you the question somewhat good naturedly, somewhat teasingly. Was he trying to gauge if you’d been as restless as he had been after the moment you’d had in your bedroom? Well, he’d never admit it out loud. You shot him a dirty look and he looked away to stifle a laugh. 

“Obviously  _ you _ did. You’re only slightly less silent and stoic than usual, which means you actually slept for once,” You snarked and he shifted to look at you.

“That’s the most ridiculously correct assumption you have ever said,” He deadpanned and you let out something between scoff and a laugh. 

“So you’re ready to continue on?” You both turned when Senator Leia’s voice drifted through the room as she walked in from the kitchen with Ben in tow. 

“Yes. Thank you, for your hospitality,” He replied easily. Honestly, this was the safest he’d ever felt outside of the covert. 

“Thank  _ you _ for your honesty,” She smiled your way, “And your friendship. It’s odd to say that we now have a Mandalorian ally, but here we are,”

“Never thought I’d get to say that I’m friends with the Senator of the Alderaan system,” You laughed lightly and the Senator joined in with a quick hug. 

“Alright, alright, enough of you freeloaders. Go on. Go off on your adventure,” Han groused as he stuck his head out from the kitchen with a sour face. 

“Han!”

“What? Kick ‘em out before those bounty hunters come for us instead,” Han gave a half hearted shrug before throwing a wink your way and shouldering some of the bags sitting near the door. 

Mando grabbed the kid and nodded towards the man heading out of the apartment towards the hangar, “He’s got a point. Better to get going before something happens,” 

“Don’t jinx us, Mando,” You replied as you elbowed his side and he threw you a look.

“Nothing will happen, it was days before the hunters came,” The Senator replied breezily as she shot a dirty look at Han’s back, “Besides, I have news,”

He looked at the Senator fully at that statement, a hopeful look on her face as she leveled him with her gaze, “I haven’t heard from Luke, but I did hear a rumor. A rumor about a Mandalorian,”

He tensed at that, not wanting to give in to the hope that someone from his covert had survived the siege on Nevarro, “There are always rumors about Mandalorians. They’re almost always about me,”

“Not this one. There’s a fight promoter on Coruscant named Gor Koresh, he’s known for his knowledge of Mandalorian coverts. Yena mentioned before that the Mandalorians and the Jedi were enemies, they may know something. At least until I can get through to Luke… Maybe they’ll even lead you to him before I can,” 

“I’ve heard of Koresh… He’s not exactly what I would call ‘savory’,” You piped up from beside him and he looked down at you curiously. Honestly, he had forgotten that you were part of that scene. It was hard to reconcile that image of you with the person he had been living with for the past few months, it didn’t seem like you to do something illegal. 

“What? I know things!” You crossed your arms defensively at the gazes being thrown your way, “I used to do illegal starship mods… And most of those were for people who participated in, or who gambled on, interstellar dogfights. Koresh came up on occasion,”

“Guess you’re sneakier than we gave you credit for, kid,” Han smirked and you gave him a sneer. 

“Coruscant was already part of the plan… Might be worth checking out,” He stepped in quickly to prevent a fight between you and Han. The logic was sound, and finding a Mandalorian was a pretty safe bet. However, finding other coverts was notoriously difficult, even with the full backing of a Mandalorian Armorer. Since the Purge coverts stayed hidden, separate and anonymous. The less you stood out, the better. 

“You’re the leader here, Mando,” You replied easily. He caught the way you looked up at him for his response. You trusted his judgement. He looked down at the kid in your arms, a small toothy grin on his face and he decided. 

It looked like you’d all be seeking out Koresh on Coruscant then. The trip would take a full day in hyperspace. It wasn’t too bad as far as trips went, especially since it had been decided to skip Gatalenta entirely. 

When had his life gotten so complicated?

* * *

“Hey, Drlukkyyy’s asleep,” Your voice pulled him from his thoughts.

The Razor Crest had been on autopilot for the past hour and a half but he hadn’t left the cockpit. In the hurry to get everything settled when leaving the Senator and her family in Chandrila, he really hadn’t thought too much about what he would say after his promise the other night. Now that you were both alone, it seemed to hit him that he had to make a decision about how things would go as the words ran through his mind in a jumbled mess that he wasn’t sure how to deal with. He unclenched his hands from the controls, took a breath, and turned to face you. You were leaning shyly against the doorframe, playing with your hands as you waited for him to speak. 

He was taking too long.

He knew he was taking too long.

“We… should talk,” He finally managed to choke out the words and watched in slight horror as your face fell. 

“You... You changed your mind—?” Your voice wavered.

“—No!” He jumped up suddenly then stopped and cleared his throat as he watched you flinch from his outburst, “No. That’s not it,”

“Okay… Then what is it?” You stepped towards him hesitantly, your head tilted to the side as you looked up at him through your lashes. He didn’t understand why this was so hard. He had done all sorts of questionable and illegal things. He was raising a kid. Hell, he had been with women before you. So why was it that when you looked up at him like this, he faltered so hard that anyone would think he was wet behind the ears?

“The first time we were... together, I embarrassed you. I made you doubt yourself, made you doubt your place here,” He stepped closer and watched as you tilted your face up to him, all soft and sweet, with hopeful eyes, “I hurt you. I— Can you… Can you forgive me?”

He watched you exhale shakily and steeled himself for whatever response you wanted to give him. He hoped it would be a good response, even if he knew he deserved anything but. You let out a small disbelieving laugh as you shook your head at him.

“I’ve got to tell you, this wasn’t what I was expecting. What made you change your mind about me?” You asked softly and he replied in kind, his hands opened and closed at his side. 

“I judged you too harshly. It’s... normal, to want to see someone’s face. But the Creed, it’s all I have. I can’t give you more than this—“

“—I know,” You jumped in quickly and met his gaze again, his words petering out from your interruption.

“What I said before, it was childish...  _ selfish _ . I thought that if I saw you, I’d somehow  _ know _ you. I’ve had this idea of who I thought you were for so long. I imagined so many things about you but I never stopped to take into account that you’re more than just a man behind a mask, more than just a puzzle that I had to somehow figure out. Who you are, as a person, it isn’t because of or in spite of the armor. It’s just... you. I can’t ask for more than that if this is all I’ve ever known, and it was wrong of me to put you in that situation… Will you forgive me too?” You looked up at him again and his breath caught in his throat.

“You...? I— You were forgiven a long time ago,” He fumbled, his mind trying to wrap around the fact that you’d decided all of this on your own. That you’d made the effort to understand. 

He exhaled harshly, “I can’t figure you out,”

“Isn’t that half of the fun?” You teased and grabbed his hand slowly, giving it a soft squeeze that he returned, Then, for good measure, he reached out and wrapped his hand around the back of your neck to bring you close. He pressed your forehead gently against his helmet and you closed your eyes as you both breathed in deeply.

“I guess the mood is gone then,” You whispered slowly. 

“Kind of,” He chuckled in response.

“That’s alright. We have time,”


	27. Projections

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Premonitions… Premonitions… Hmmmm… These visions you have…”  
> “They are of pain, suffering... Death,”  
> “Yourself you speak of, or someone you know?”  
> “Someone…”  
> “... Close to you?  
> “Yes,”
> 
> — Anakin Skywalker and Jedi Master Yoda (Revenge of the Sith)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More rewrite for this chapter compared to the last one! Next chapter will be a total rewrite!

* * *

_“I guess the mood is gone then,” You whispered slowly._

_“Kind of,” He chuckled in response._

_“That’s alright. We have time,”_

  
  
  
  


Loud.

Everything was so **_loud_ **. 

Blasters, yelling, screaming, and just the overwhelming sense of fear and desperation. You stood in the middle of the battlefield but you were just a spectator here, a spectral watching and listening to things as if through a warped piece of glass. Everything looked familiar but at the same time you knew you’d never been here before, all of the things you thought you could recognize weren’t the same at all. The sandscapes were flat where there should have been dunes, the sand looked closer to a murky gray than the golden tones of your home, and everywhere you looked there were stormtroopers and demolished buildings being mowed down. Black and white armored bodies littered the blood soaked ground but there just seemed to be more and more of them rising up with no end in sight and _a voice_. Constant, droning, the repetition of a set of words that you couldn’t make sense of.

The air was stifling and you choked on the acrid smell of burnt bodies and iron. Why were you here and why did you feel like you were missing something? You whirled around, desperately searching for that _something_ or _someone,_ but you couldn’t remember who it was. 

Then, from the corner of your eye you saw him, and pure unadulterated relief flooded your body. His armor shone in the small break of sunlight and you held back a sob at the swell of recognition at seeing a Mandalorian, **_your_ **Mandalorian. You stumbled over the bodies and through the waves of blaster fire, but he seemed to get farther and farther with every step. A frustrated scream bubbled up in your throat but nothing came out, and you scratched at your neck helplessly as you continued to yell for his attention. Finally, something seemed to break through as dozens of troopers stormed the building behind him and he suddenly turned towards you. For a moment it seemed like he didn’t recognize you as he stopped and stared, then it clicked and he was sprinting towards you. Your feet picked up the pace and you idly thought that this time you’d reach him, this time you’d be together. 

Gloved fingers skimmed against yours when a sudden and massive explosion swept in between the two of you. The scream finally tore from your throat as you watched him fly backwards onto the ground, the blood pooling underneath his head as his battered body was dragged away from you into the building as he choked and wheezed. You crawled towards him but everything was too loud, and all you could hear was screaming. And then it seemed like all you could do was scream too, just scream, and scream, _and scream his name until your throat was raw and_ — 

“— MANDO! Mando!” You shot up out of your bed in a flurry of flailing limbs until you were sore and on the floor as sobs and screams wracked your body. 

“Hey! Hey, I’m here— _stop_ , I’m here,” 

Strong arms wrapped around you as you kicked and pushed and screamed. It wasn’t until you felt the cold bite of beskar pressed against your cheek that you finally stopped fighting and choked on the air stuttering in your lungs. You looked up and saw him, really _saw_ him, and you crumbled again with spluttered whimpers of _you’re okay._ Your hand clamped tight around the back of his neck as you painfully pressed the beskar helmet against your forehead. 

“The-the baby. Where’s the b-baby?” You managed to stumble out the question as your eyes took on a panicked edge, but Mando’s grip on your arms was strong, _painful_ , and it grounded you.

“He’s here too. He’s safe,” His voice was commanding but not unkind, and almost on cue the little green toddler peeked out from behind the Carbonizer. 

You felt his fingers brushing your hair away and shuddered at the whisper of skin against skin, “I don’t… I had a nightmare. Did I wake you? I’m sorry— “

“Don’t. You’re fine, the kid had a nightmare too,” You both stopped for a moment at the coincidence of it all but Mando brushed it off and helped you stand, gently pushing you back into your cot, “I’ll be back. I’m just going to get him settled again,”

You gave him a slow nod and watched as he slowly backed away from you then turned to scoop the kid up and take him back to his cot. You sat and stared blankly at the cargo hold wall in front of you, just processing everything that had happened, and jumped in surprise at how quietly the Mandalorian had dropped in front of you in your stupor. 

“That was quick…” You rasped softly, your throat tired and rough from screaming. He grabbed one of your knees gently and looked down at the bruises and scrapes from your less than graceful wakening.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

You looked back at the wall and swallowed. It was just a bad dream, nothing you hadn’t dealt with before, but why had it felt so real this time? It had seemed more like some sort of twisted memory than just something your mind had come up with on its own. Then there was the fact that your body had reacted so viscerally to seeing the Mandalorian; so much relief at being recognized by him, and so much fear and anguish at seeing him in such a life and death situation. 

“I-I saw you die. I think… I don’t know. It-it was so loud, stormtroopers were everywhere, and it _looked_ like Tatooine… but **_not_ ** . You were fighting and fighting but it seemed never ending, and there were these black armored troopers and white armored stormtroopers. And bodies, just bodies _everywhere_ and it just looked like they were going to cover the entire planet before you ever came close to winning,” You took a deep shuddering breath as some details became clearer while others faded away, You vaguely registered that his hold on your knee had tightened as you spoke. 

“And I saw— _I saw you,_ and you saw me too but before I could even get close, there was an explosion, and-and fire, and _you’d hit your head_ **_so hard._ ** There was _so much blood_ , Mando. And someone in-in black took you away, into some sort of building, but they left me behind and I couldn’t get to you— “ 

“How did you know that?”

“W-What?” You swallowed thickly and looked down at him. His hands were bare, had they been gloveless this whole time?

“Hey, focus.. How did you know that I hit my head,” He asked it slowly, like it made so much sense to focus on this specific part of your fucked up dream. 

“I-I don’t know? Why are you asking me this— ?”

“You weren’t there. It doesn’t make sense for you to know that,” He muttered, more to himself than you, but you still heard it and scoffed. 

“Why are you talking about this like it actually happened? This is just some-some fucked up stress induced dream,” You waved your arms high around your head in a huff to make a point but he just reached out and grabbed them, bringing them back to your lap. 

“Because it did. 1 or 2 months before we met on the space station. There was a… skirmish, between a remnant of the Empire and myself with some of my… friends, on a desert-like planet in the outer rim— They wanted the kid and at one point it looked like they would get him. I got caught in an explosion and…”

“... You almost died,” You looked down at him with wide eyes, “Because you… You can’t remove your helmet… Mando! H-How?” 

“A droid,” He supplied and studied your other knee, “And bacta spray,”

“Are you okay?! I mean— “ You grabbed onto the top of his helmet to look over the smooth surface for any cracks or dents as you pulled his head this way and that.  
  
“You’ve been living with me for 3 months, you tell me,” He replied as he pulled your hands off of him. You made a noise of concern as he stood up and moved to grab something from the crate/table. When had he brought the kriffing medkit out from the ‘fresher?

“So the question is still, how did you know?” He looked down at you for a long time and it finally clicked what he was trying to get at. 

“Whoa, hey. No. Look, this has never happened before, okay? I’m not ‘One with the Force’ or whatever like Drlukkyyy— “ You both froze at the realization.

“The kid,” You both breathed in unison. 

“You think he projected his nightmare onto me or something?” You asked worriedly, wringing the hem of your sleep shirt in your hands. 

“Wouldn’t be surprised,” He shrugged and ducked down to lightly spray some bacta on your knees. You pursed your lips at that thought, it was hard enough that the baby had magic powers and now you were realizing the emotional damage that came from being hunted by the Empire. 

“That’s a terrible memory to carry… Watching your dad die,” You murmured, meeting the Mandalorian’s visor. You watched his hands still and for a moment you wondered if you’d overstepped. You knew that the kid wasn’t actually his, or yours, or even going to stay with either of you long term, but the truth was still there. He made a staticky sort of noise through his voice modulator and you realized it was him clearing his throat. You watched idly as he went back to taping up your knees, the soft touches raising goosebumps on your legs in response. 

“... It is,” He admitted after a moment and you hummed softly in response. A beat or two passed in a somewhat comfortable silence before you got the courage to speak again. 

“Are you sure you’re okay? No deep lasting damage?” You teased lightly as he stood up to put the supplies back in the medkit. 

“I’m fine. Aren’t you the one who had the nightmare?” He threw back good naturedly.

“Doesn’t mean I can’t care about you too,” You replied softly as you slid down off of your cot. You shivered slightly when your bare feet touched the metal floor of the cargo hold and you hugged your arms around yourself for warmth.

He turned around then, leaning back against your makeshift table with his arms crossed over his chest and his legs crossed at the ankle. The soft noise he made in the back of his throat as he looked down at you suddenly made you very self conscious about your inadequate sleepwear. He reached out and gently chucked your chin… but not like usual. This time his knuckles started down by your collarbone, skimming slowly and softly up over your throat and under your jaw until he tipped your chin up. 

“Get some sleep, sweet girl,”

Oh. 

**_Oh._ **

That sentence should not have done it for you as much as it did. Your legs felt weak at the combination of his bare hand sliding up your throat and those two words… _Sweet girl._ You blinked up at him slowly as your lips parted and for a moment you thought he had leaned in towards you too. His hand slid up and tucked your hair behind your ear before turning towards the ladder to head back up to the cockpit.

“Will you stay?” You blurted out the question in a panic, like your mouth had connected to your heart instead of your brain and it hadn’t quite caught up yet. He turned and looked at you with a curious tilt of his helmet.

So you tacked on a, “Just for a little while…”

Y’know... For good measure. 

You watched him hesitate for a moment before walking back to one of the crates and pulling it close to your little cot against the wall. You held back a smile at the image of the big scary Mandalorian sitting at your bedside after a nightmare because you had asked him to and climbed into your bed carefully. You wrapped yourself up in your blankets and peered over at Mando as he sat next to your bed, then shot him a shy smile when he looked down at you. 

“Were you sleeping? When Drlukkyyy and I had our moment?” You asked softly, you could see the fatigue settling on his shoulders the longer he sat.

“I was about to. I heard you on my way to ‘fresher,” He grunted out and leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, rubbing a tired hand over the back of his neck. 

“We… We could share? The bed, I mean. You put the baby in yours just now,” You suggested in, what you hoped, was an innocent way. Even if the way his head had snapped up towards you suggested otherwise. 

“ **_You_ ** barely fit on it,” He grunted out roughly but you smiled at the fact that he hadn’t _explicitly_ said no. 

“If we both lay sideways it’ll be fine. It’s better than waking Drlukkyyy up again,”

He sat silently and you held your breath in apprehension, then bit back your smug smile of victory as you watched him toe his boots off. He stood up and looked over the little cot as you shuffled your body up against the wall. His hands opened and closed, like they always did when he was thinking hard about something, then he brought them up to remove his thigh guards. For whatever reason, you felt embarrassed watching him, quickly rolling over to face the wall. You knew he wasn’t naked, but watching him take his armor off just felt a little _too_ intimate. You settled down and listened to the shuffle of fabric, then the heavier thuds of metal against the crate.

“I can see why you fell out of this thing. Needs some guard rails,” You felt his body crowding against yours as he got into a comfortable position.

“Excuse you, I’m not a youngling. I don’t need _guard rails_ ,” You huffed the word out indignantly as you craned your neck over your shoulder to look at him. You faltered at the realization of how close he actually was, he had left as much room as possible in between you but he dwarfed you on the cot. 

He sighed and nudged your shoulder to turn you back around, which you begrudgingly complied, and caught his hand hovering over your arm for a moment before gently settling it there. You bit your lip and gently grazed your fingers against his; your skin tingled for a moment at the touch. His hand hesitantly rubbed up and down your arm and you sighed peacefully as your eyes closed, the warmth of his body lulling you to sleep. Tomorrow would be better, you idly thought, you’d all get to Coruscant for the information you needed. So with that, you slept. The Mandalorian’s large steady hand rubbing soothingly against your arm. 

* * *

You woke up hot, your body thrumming and uncomfortable. You tried to shift but the solid body behind you froze you in your tracks as your backside inadvertently rubbed up against the Mandalorian behind you. You swallowed thickly at the hot feeling of his cock resting against you. When you had asked him to share your bed you hadn’t expected this but you couldn’t say you were mad about it, or about how his hand had made it’s way over your stomach. His fingers rested idly against the very top of your mound, slightly twitching every now and then and sending shocks of electricity down to your core. 

There was a part of you; a wicked, desperate part, that wanted to move his hand lower and just have his fingers tap against the tight, hot feeling in your clit. But you held that part back, because you weren’t some kind of sex crazed deviant who used other people’s body parts to get off without their consent. And also because this had to be the deepest you’d seen the Mandalorian sleep while on the Razor Crest, and while you were sure he wouldn’t have minded a wake up for this, you knew you would have felt a little guilty for doing so. Apparently though, you _were_ the kind of sex crazed deviant who slipped their own hand in between their legs to get off while sharing a bed with the object of their affections. 

Which is exactly where you found yourself now, as you urgently but carefully wiggled your hand underneath his. You had to cover your mouth with your free hand to hold back the moan of relief at finally being able to touch yourself. A wave of hot pleasure coursed over you at being _so close_ to the Mandalorian while you did so. If you closed your eyes you could almost believe that it was him touching you so carefully, his fingers circling the bundle of nerves until your legs shook. You breathed out of your nose roughly at the tremor that ran through your body as your clit throbbed under your thumb. Your other fingers having already busied themselves with your wet entrance. You usually started with one finger but you knew Mando’s hands were just so much bigger than yours, just one his fingers would have easily split you open, and that fueled your determination to ease two of yours in. The stretch was uncomfortable but with Mando’s body at your back, you warmed up to the addition as the fantasy that he was the one building you up to your upcoming orgasm. You imagined his tight hold around your body, arms like durasteel around your waist keeping you still and close. Maybe he’d even pinch one of your nipples between his fingers, toy with you until you sobbed and begged for him to do more. You had to swallow the moan that slipped out from behind your hand until it was barely a whimper as another tremor shook your frame.

“What are you doing?” Your eyes popped open and you ripped your hand out of your underwear when the Mandalorian’s sleep heavy voice startled you. His hand caught yours in a flash though and your body flared in embarrassment at the way your fingers glistened in the low light of the cargo hold. 

“... What’s this?” He brought your slick fingers up to his eye line and with that same low appraising sound from before, he responded with the words that had made your blood sing last night.

“ _Oh, sweet girl._ Don’t stop now,”

His hold was strong but you wouldn’t have even dreamed of trying to fight against him as he guided your hand back down to your wet cunt. If anything you were thrilled at the prospect as he slid your joined hands past the waistband of your underwear. His fingers made you press roughly against your own clit until you were writhing desperately against him with a whimpered plea. He slipped his hand underneath your body and around your chest until you were held tight against him, your ass pressed against his obvious arousal at having found you in such a compromising position. You whined high in your throat as he began to circle your clit with your joined fingers, slow and steady until your legs were shaking so bad that it moved the entire bed. 

“Look at you,” His voice was deep and slow, just for you, as he mumbled it into your ear, “So fucking shameless,”

“ _No—_ ‘M not,” You whimpered and he made a soft ‘ _tsk_ ’ in response as his hips rutted into your ass. 

“Touching yourself while I’m right here, sharing your bed?” 

“I-I didn’t want to wake— _wake_ , _you!”_ You keened in surprise when he suddenly swiped over your clit again. 

“You can always wake me up for this,” His voice rumbled behind you as he pulled your hand out and replaced it with his own, his finger finally sinking into you. Your cry of pleasure quickly muffled by his other hand while he reminded you to not wake the kid up. He pumped his finger steadily, his thumb circling your clit until your back arched and your toes curled. Tears pricked behind your closed eyelids and you swore you saw hyperspace as he continued to up the pace and then ease in another thick finger until you felt like you’d explode. Then you noticed it, he was talking, low and constant in your ear. 

“You— **_Fuck_** , you’re so kriffing _good_ for me, taking my fingers like this. You’re always catching me off-off guard. Always making me stop and realize just how fucking _soft_ you are _._ Always taking— taking care of things, taking care of _me_ ,”

“Mandoooo,” You whined behind his palm, as his thumb continued to rub over the hood of your clit. That and the constant friction of his hard cock rubbing along the entire seam of your ass had your eyes rolling back as your body locked up against him. 

Your orgasm pounded through you harder than anything you could have ever given yourself. Mando’s helmet pressed against your neck but you barely registered it over the slow thrumming of his hand still pumping over you and his hips rutting slowly and deliberately behind you, slowly working you down from the high until your legs clamped tight around his hand. His other hand gently separated from your face, almost like he had forgotten it was still there. The only sound between the two of you were your panting breaths and the wet shift of his fingers easing out from in between your folds. You licked your lips and attempted to swallow down the dryness in your throat as you basked in the warmth in your muscles. You turned your head to peek at the Mandalorian from the corner of your eye. 

“What…” You cleared your throat softly, the scratchiness of it making you self conscious, “What about you?” 

“I’m fine,” You turned around fully at that.

“Mando—“

“Later. We’re landing soon,” He got up from your cot, pulling his boots on roughly, and took a step towards the cockpit before your hand reached out and gently grabbed his. 

“Wait, Mando. Coruscant can wait, it’s not like we’ll fall out of the sky,” You gave his hand a squeeze and he turned to face you as you sat up. 

You weren’t sure where this bravery had come from. Even if you weren’t naturally one for meekness, this was a lot for you, especially with the Mandalorian standing in front of you letting you play with his fingers. The same fingers that had just been strumming you like you were nothing more than a hallikset in the hands of a skilled musician. You pulled him in to stand in the space between your spread legs, surprised when he came in willingly. You tilted your head back slowly as your ankles hooked together behind his hips, then brought his shiny fingers up to your mouth to clean. Your body felt hot as you sucked on each finger purposely, tasting yourself and the tang of his skin while watching his body harden even more under your ministrations. 

“You’re asking for trouble,” He growled as his hand traced over your cheekbone and you couldn’t help but smile at the familiar phrase from your first time together as his fingers slipped from your lips. His voice was low and warm and you thought it was ridiculous that someone could make their voice sound so rich through a helmet. 

“When am I not?” You laughed and fiddled with the front of his pants, but his hands closed firmly around yours. 

“I really should _go_ ,”

“You really should _stay_ ,” You breathed, then much softer you added, “I want you to stay,”

He stopped and looked at you and you looked right back. Even sitting on the cot, he still towered over you and it sent a shudder down your spine as your head tilted back in invitation. Slowly his visor tilted down in a nod as his hands released yours. You breathed out a shaky sigh as you finally pulled his pants open and wrapped your hand around his length, chancing a peek at the swollen appendage. He was thick, the skin hot and flushed with a vein running along the underside that you lightly traced with your thumb. His breath stuttered out through the filter; staticky, and strained, and oh so perfect.

“You’re st-stubborn,” He sighed as you slowly traced your palm up and over the head of his cock. You watched in fascination as his hips bucked lightly into your hand. 

“Just admit that it would have sucked to go up there alone with your dick this hard,” You replied softly and his hips rocked into you again as his hands moved up to tangle in your hair. You closed your eyes at the sensation as your hand subconsciously tightened around the base of him and he groaned low in his throat.

“Y-you’re a pain in the ass,”

You laughed at the hitch in his breath and glanced down at the way the tip of his cock beaded up with precum. Your thumb smeared over it and his grip on your hair tightened until you whimpered. 

“You— you said I was a _sweet girl_ ,” You whispered and he groaned roughly when the head of his cock peeked up from your fist. He felt like superheated steel in your hands, and your thighs quaked around his. 

You felt like you were on fire all over again as you reached up to lick your palm. He nearly tore it away from your face after the first three long wet strokes of your tongue and gripped your hand in his. He wrapped it snug around the head and placed his hand over yours as he pushed them both down over the ridge with a groan that made your toes curl and your own moan slip from your lips. You reached up blindly and tore your shirt open as you got one more slick pump in when the tell tale drop from hyperspace jostled the ship. You and Mando groaned simultaneously as he dropped his helmet to rest against your forehead. His hands slid away from you to gently untangle your legs from around his hips so he could tuck himself back into his pants with a small wince. 

“You won’t stay?” You looked up at him as you leaned back against the hull of the ship, shirt half off and already contemplating just spreading your legs to get him back over to you. You weren’t that shameless though. 

Not yet, anyway. 

“If we hang around too long in the planet’s gravity it’ll look suspicious. This is still New Republic territory,” He replied simply as he walked over to the fresher. You frowned but he made a good point, it wouldn’t do to sound off any alarms before even landing. You sighed and absentmindedly sucked your thumb into your mouth, getting a taste of the leftover precum still smeared on it. 

“Next time,” He growled out and your eyes shot up in response to the sound. You found his visor locked on to you and the way your thumb slid from your lips. His throat bobbed as he swallowed when you licked your lips. 

“Next time,” You repeated. 

He climbed up the hatch to the cockpit and you sat dumbly for a moment before making your way to the fresher to clean up, but not without knocking your toe into the Mandalorian’s chestplate first. You muttered a harsh curse under your breath as you limped to the sink. You looked back at his armor piled neatly on the floor by your bed and decided that if he didn’t come down to retrieve it himself that you’d do something nice for him. You freshened up, got dressed, and when your tiny green assistant woke up ready for breakfast and Mando still hadn’t come down to grab his armor, you decided to make good on that. 

A half hour later and you were lifting the baby up over the ladder onto the second floor so you could bring up the Mandalorian’s armor up piece by piece. You had polished the beskar until it shone and had even attempted to buff out some of the scratches and blaster marks from the surface. Drlukkyyy had even gotten his own little rag to polish with, especially after he’d tried eating the metal buffer three times. 

It took you four trips to bring the whole cuirass up, including the bandolier, but you managed. You found the Mandalorian waiting for you at the top of the ladder, his body seeming more like a statue or a droid than a man. He was so still it didn’t even seem like he was breathing, hands clenched at his side as he looked down at the armor resting neat and tidy on the floor.

“Oh, hey. You left it down in the hull, so Drlukkyyy and I polished it for you,” You explained breathlessly, “It’s really heavy. How do you walk with this on?”

You were met with silence until he finally looked over at you while you stood by the hatch. He stared at you for an uncomfortable amount of time and a queasy feeling settled into your stomach. You shifted awkwardly, you had been trying to help but maybe you’d overstepped. Perhaps only Mandalorians could polish Mandalorian armor?

“Did… Did I do something wrong?” You rubbed your hands over your pants nervously, “I’m sorry,”

“No,” He finally pushed out softly, “No, you didn’t do anything wrong,”

“I can go back down if you need me to while you put it back on?” You gestured at the armor on the floor and then the ladder when he ticked his helmet to the side. You had thought you could get a better read on what he was thinking about under that bucket before things had changed on Chandrila, but now it seemed like you didn’t know anything at all. 

“It’s fine,” He finally bent down and started putting on some of the smaller pieces; the vambraces, and thigh guards. Then he pulled the whole chest plate up and slipped it on with an ease that could only come from experience. The pauldrons were next and then the belt, holster, and bandolier. He adjusted some parts and finally looked up at you as if to say, ‘better?’ You gave him a small nod and he walked back into the cockpit. He slid his cape off of the copilot’s seat and tucked it in over his shoulders. It seemed like he really had been sleeping up here last night. You sat down in the copilot’s seat to the left and smiled at Drlukkyyy’s antics as he tried to climb up into the other one by himself. 

“Here, little one, let me help,” You walked over and gently lifted him up, settling him into the seat and buckling him in before taking your own. He was becoming very independent lately, always wanting to do things himself, and never asking for help. You weren’t sure if you liked this attitude change.

Coruscant’s skyscrapers were rising up through the cockpit window and you looked over them anxiously, then at the Mandalorian sitting in front of you. His helmet reflected the city’s sleepless lights and made it look iridescent. For a moment you wondered if he could even see them as you did or if all of the filters and HUD stopped him from noticing it at this point. You wondered if he could even see the way you blushed when he was close, or how wet you had really been this morning while you touched yourself, though he did get a good feel for it himself. You stopped and pressed a hand to your lips, the Mandalorian had touched you after he caught yourself jerking off in bed and you had promised to return the favor later. Why was it just now hitting you that this situation had actually happened?

“I can hear you thinking from over here,” His voice vaporized your fantasizing with the same grace as his Amban rifle and you flushed at being caught.

“It’s nothing,”

You had answered too quickly. You knew you answered too quickly, and you knew he noticed by the way he glanced at you from over his shoulder. 

“Really?” His voice sounded skeptical, so of course, he knew you were lying. 

“Yes, I was just… Staring at the city. I’ve never been...” Your voice petered out as your sentence ended and you shook your head at yourself. Suffering Gods, you didn’t think you could have sounded like anymore of an empty headed idiot than in that moment. 

The Razor Crest shifted as the landing gear connected against the landing pad. He turned around then and leveled you with the full gaze of his visor, leaving you to squirm in your seat. You knew you weren't a great liar but you could get away with things from time to time. However, the time you’d spent with Mando had shown you that you were probably the worst liar in the galaxy. You may as well have been transperiglass to his eyes. So when he settled back in his chair, legs spread slightly, and head tilted your way like he was asking you to try again… you caved. 

“I-I was just... Thinking about...” You replied vaguely but you knew your cheeks had turned Devaronian red at this point. Of course he tilted his head in that way that just screamed that he knew _exactly_ what you were thinking about. 

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” His voice was soft and low but you could hear the smile in it and then you realized it.

_He was teasing you._

You couldn’t help but turn your head away and scoff despite the continued flare of heat now spreading down your chest.

“I am _not_ embarrassed—“ Your words faltered when he let out a single ‘ _Ha!’_ as if to say, _Sure, Yena._

“... Okay, fine. **_Yes_ **. I’m embarrassed,” You groused but there was no real bite in it. You sat back heavily against your chair and looked anywhere but at him. He chuckled lightly and it pissed you off more that the sound made your legs clench together when you were so annoyed with him.

“Don’t pout,”

“I am **_not_** pouting!”

“You are. Come on,” He nudged you along as he walked past and grabbed the baby. You rolled your eyes when his back was to you but followed after him dutifully. 

“So what’s the plan then, shiny?” 

“Don’t call me that,” He grunted as he grabbed the overnight bags and his rifle, “The plan is to find somewhere to stay and then find whatever underground fight club Koresh is holed up in,”

“That sounds like a to-do list, not a plan,” You muttered but Mando purposefully ignored you as he lowered the ramp and walked out into the port. 

Whatever words you’d had lined up next, slipped away as you walked out of the ship and into Coruscant’s intense environment. Airtaxis and all other manner of lightcrafts sped along around the port and you watched in awe at the fact that no one managed to collide with another. You followed after the Mandalorian in a daze, the looming skyscrapers obscured by rolling waves of smog but still magnificent in their structure. You peeked over the railing to look down at the lower levels and felt the same overwhelming sense of vertigo you got while flying. All sorts of people crowded around, below, and above you as well on the many different walkways and city blocks. Your mind spun as you tried to take it all in without getting separated from your partner, but you let an easy smile take over your face when you felt a familiar gloved hand wrap around your own. 

You definitely weren’t in Tatooine anymore. 


	28. Take a Gamble on Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Being horny is my natural state.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a complete rewrite. Like I mentioned before, I didn’t like the direction it was going in before. I feel a lot better about this chapter now and how to jump into the next section of our story. 
> 
> Since it’s been a bit since I’ve updated, here’s a refresher on Boba Fett
> 
> Ch.17 Yena talks about a Mandalorian on the Hutts payroll  
> Ch. 21 Han first mentions Boba Fett by name  
> Ch. 23 Leia mentions their run on with Fett

_  
_

* * *

_  
“The plan is to find somewhere to stay and then find whatever underground fight club Koresh is holed up in,”_

_“That sounds like a to-do list, not a plan,”_

  
  
  
  
  


The upper levels of the Galactic City were everything you had thought they would be. Bright and beautiful with the sunset’s last few rays breaking through the distance and setting the transparisteel windows aflame. It almost looked like something out of a holofilm, nothing on Tatooine could even compare. As you looked at the crowds of beautiful people passing you by, you realized just how out of place you were… until Mando kept dragging you further along and you realized you wouldn’t have to worry about that for much longer. The lower levels may as well have been on another planet entirely. Grimy streets and shifty people, and fumes and smog that made a sandstorm feel like a gentle breeze inside your lungs. So of course, that was exactly where Mando was leading your little party. Down, down, down… until the only light available came from the stuttering street lamps and the headlights of airspeeders flying by, sometimes a little too close for comfort. 

You covered your mouth as you coughed harshly from the smoke tickling your throat. You swallowed painfully and wrinkled your nose when Mando finally stopped in front of a small storefront on the cusp of the lowest middle level and the highest lower level. He walked in and it didn’t surprise you to see that Drlukkyyy’s shield had been closed for a while now.

Lucky him. 

You leaned over the walkway for a moment and caught a few inky shadows scuttling away from the open areas underneath you. You may not have known much about Coruscant itself, but you were smart enough to see how large the class disparity really was on this planet. Which meant that as a bounty hunter and his tag-alongs, you were all worth about as much as the scud stuck to the bottom of your shoe and were soon going to get _very_ well acquainted with the lower levels.

“I know I should have expected this, but I’m still kind of disappointed,” You mumbled to yourself as you walked inside and accepted your fate. 

“Here,”

Mando’s hand thrusted towards you right as you walked in and you looked at him for a moment, then down at the object in his hand. A large, bug-like mask sat glaring up at you. The thing looked like it had been through hell and back and you barely hid your disdain as you looked back up at Mando. 

“What the fuck is this?”

“The air here will kill you before any bounty hunter or criminal will. You and the kid will need a mask with filtration,”

You looked down at the floppy thing before grabbing it gingerly and securing it over your face. The material felt weird against your skin, not quite cloth, not quite durasteel, or even duraplast. You lifted your face up to the Mandalorian and blinked obnoxiously through the goggles to focus on his visor. If you looked as ridiculous as you felt, at least he wasn't showing it. He adjusted a few straps and switches and tapped on a button near your ear that filled your head with a dull buzzing noise. 

“I feel stupid,” You grimaced at the way your voice sounded through the filter, tinny and the buzzing made your voice vibrate as well. 

“Better stupid than dead,” He continued to adjust your mask and you glared at him.

“Why wait for the smoke inhalation to do it when life with you does the trick?” You replied with a sarcastically saccharine voice. 

He ignored your jab and opened the cradle’s shield to fit Drlukkyyy with a mask of his own. His once adorable wrinkled face now looked more disconcerting with the large goggles and filtered mouthpiece covering it up. He made a few garbled sounds and you winced at the odd way it echoed. Mando turned back to you and tugged gently at the collar of your shirt. 

“You should have brought warmer clothes. The weather changes quickly here,”

“You didn’t tell me that… Besides, I’ve never had to own cold weather clothes before,” 

Mando ushered you to look around the shop for anything else you and the baby might need. You browsed languidly, grabbing a jacket and a few coarseweave shirts for yourself, and a small hat for Drlukkyyy. The openings looked like they were meant for a twi’lek, which was suitable enough to protect the toddler’s head from rain or sun, while keeping his ears comfortable. You slipped the material over his head and fastened the jacket and hood over your own, an odd sense of relief washing over you at suddenly becoming anonymous. You wondered if this was how Mando felt, no face, no discernible marks from anyone else… or rather, for him, from any other Mandalorian. 

Safety in anonymity. 

You stopped Drlukkyyy from pulling at his mask while Mando paid the shop owner. You noticed he’d grabbed a few sets of bacta patches and antiseptic spray, suddenly glad that Leia had given you both several thousand credits for the trip. You helped Mando store the supplies in your pockets before walking back out into the city. 

“Are we going much lower?” You asked softly, eyeing the staircase leading towards an alley surrounded by shifty eyed scoundrels. 

“Yes,” Mando led you towards the stairs and you were grateful that he’d forced you to buy the mask when a speeder flew by and a wave of exhaust blew past you.

”Koresh will be in the underworld of the city. I think I know someone who can get me in, but we’ll need to find somewhere for you and the kid to stay while I go get the information,”

“What?” You whipped your head over to look at him when he stopped and looked up towards one of the upper levels. 

“You and the kid aren’t coming,” 

“Like hell I’m not. You’re not going out there, _alone_ , to meet with some sketchy fight promoter,” You snapped but he merely grabbed your arm and pulled you towards the elevator. 

“Stop being difficult,” He pushed you in and put a hand on the wall next to your head before you could push past him. 

You swallowed down the surge of nerves in your stomach from the way he towered over you, looming and predatory and dangerous. You stopped yourself from squeezing your thighs together at the fact that he was caging you in so easily that it was laughable, and swallowed thickly, thankful the mask hid your reaction to his body pressed so close to yours. You cleared your throat and dug deep for any semblance of confidence as you met his gaze. His visor met your googles, and you desperately tried to make a stand and seem bigger than you actually were. It was comical really, because the Mandalorian in front of you simply squared up to your bluff and crowded you until there was barely a breadth of space between the two of you. You craned your neck up to stay locked onto his gaze and tried to not stutter when you finally found your voice again. 

“ _You’re_ being difficult. H-how many times now have I had to swoop in and save your shiny metal ass since we’ve met?” You looked at him with a raise of your brows when he stepped back slightly and continued, “... Who’s going to watch your back if not me?”

That statement in itself seemed to stop him. You felt his eyes rove over you and you gave him an encouraging smile before you realized he couldn’t see it. You knew you could handle this, you wanted him to see it too. You looked at each other for a long moment and you could almost feel his resolve wavering.

“... Fine. Here” He swung the strap on his bandolier around and unhooked the Amban rifle, holding it out for you to take. 

“Your rifle?” You looked down at it in surprise, you hadn’t seen it since the space station. You looked back up at him as you grabbed it and slung the belt across your chest.

“It suits you better,” That simple phrase made your heart do a little jump as a smile pulled across your face. Then a full on wicked grin appeared as you remember the conversation the two of you had on Chandrila only a few days ago. 

“Oh? What happened to not sharing?” His shoulders tensed in response and pulled a laugh out of you.

“Don’t push it,” He reached out and pushed the elevator button for the lower levels with more force than necessary. 

“You know, I’m starting to think that buying that blaster on Chandrila was just an excuse to spend time with me,” You had mentioned it offhandedly, still messing with the strap of the rifle so it would fit more comfortably, but the sudden shift of silence that permeated the space made your eyes shoot up. 

“Wait, was I right?” Mando pointedly ignored you and you stifled a laugh, “Oh... That’s _adorable_ ,”

“ **Stop** ,” He warned but it fell on deaf ears as you giggled to yourself.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about,” You threw his earlier words back at him with a laugh.

“Just watch the kid. Earn your keep,” He grumbled and made his way out the doors as you dramatically gasped and placed a scandalized hand on your chest.

“How _dare_ you? I earn my keep plenty, thank you very much,” 

“Earn it more quietly then, before I leave you out here,” He walked on ahead and you started to run after him, nearly colliding with another pedestrian. 

“You wouldn’t!” You gasped as you finally collided into him and he looked down at you with a condescending tilt.

“Try me,” 

“I hope your helmet gets dented,” You muttered angrily as you followed after him, but ended up blushing at his huffed out laugh when he overheard you.

You pulled your hood higher over your head as you passed a darkened alley, several gruff voices silencing as your shadows danced across the entrance. You shot them a sideways glance and blanched when you inadvertently made eye contact with a particularly frightening Kaleesh. You turned away quickly and picked up your pace to stand next to Mando, last thing you all needed was to draw attention to yourselves. Even so, you couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. Maybe the dream from the night before had rattled you more than you thought. 

“So, how do we even start looking for this guy?”

“Go to the right place, find the right person,” Mando replied and you stopped in the middle of the street and looked at him incredulously.

“... Wow. Really,”

Mando simply kept walking, leading you further and further into the artificially lit labyrinth. You gripped the strap of the rifle slung across your back tightly, on edge by the overwhelming darkness of the city’s underworld. At least there weren’t that many people down here, or at least, not blatantly. Shifty characters sat outside of dimly lit porches and stairways and you discreetly glanced around at the questionable stormtrooper graffiti that littered the walls. Mando suddenly turned down a side alley, pulling you and your little caravan to a stop near a back door. He knocked twice, paused, then knocked three more times before the door suddenly opened. 

“Who the kriff is it?!” You jumped when the door slammed against the building’s wall but Mando put a reassuring hand on your back, “What? Mando!”

“Odo. It’s been a while,” Mando tipped his helmet at the Abednedo now standing in front of you.

“Didn’t think I’d see you at my door after the last time,” Odo ushered your little trio inside, “Especially with company. Thought you worked alone?”

“What happened the last time?” You murmured curiously. 

“Don’t worry about it,” Mando replied, both to you and Odo and your shoulders slumped. 

You looked around the space as the Abednedo laughed goodnaturedly and led you further into, what looked like, a shop. There were all sorts of knick knacks lining the walls of the back room, and even more so when the space opened up to the front of the store. This guy looked more like a hoarder than anything, but at least the air was filtered somewhat. You pulled your mask off with a sigh, rubbing at the indentations on your skin. 

“Oh, you finally got yourself a girl. And a pretty one at that!”

“Odo,” Mando’s voice was a warning and you ducked your head to hide a smile as you browsed the shelves. 

“Alright, alright. So, I know this isn’t a courtesy visit. What do you need, Mando?” Odo set shrewd eyes upon the three of you as you hovered awkwardly near the Mandalorian. 

“I’m looking for someone,”

“Not surprising,” The Abednedo made a dismissive motion with his hand as he turned to the register behind him, “Who is it?”

“A fight promoter named Gor Koresh. I’ve heard he’s here on Coruscant,” Mando reached over and stopped Drlukkyyy from grabbing at an odd looking item that you soon realized was a pocket knife of sorts. 

“You’ve heard right. What are you doing with a shady character like Koresh? It’s unlikely someone put a bounty on him,” Odo asked with a frown, turning back around to look at Mando straight on. 

“... It’s personal,”

“Ah… Well, Koresh is usually in the lower levels of the entertainment district. Level… 15, I think,” Odo scratched under his chin as he thought, “Not a place for a kid and a girl, though,”

“They can take care of themselves,” Mando remarked as he walked forward to deposit some credits on the table behind Odo, “Thanks for the information,”

You warmed up at the statement. Mando thought you could take care of yourself, that was high praise from a bounty hunter. 

“Anytime, Mando. Can’t always say that it was nice to see you but it’s always nice to see your credits,” He reached over and pocketed the money with a smile, then stopped when you made eye contact with him. He seemed nervous and that set your instincts on edge again. 

“Hey, seriously though… Be careful. Koresh isn’t someone to mess with, especially for someone like you,”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Mando replied easily as he led you back to the alleyway door. You fit your mask back onto your face and slipped into the dark alley.

“You can take the train three blocks from here and it’ll take you right to the heart of the district,” Odo hesitated at the threshold for a moment and your instincts flared up again, “Until next time, Mando,”

“Until next time, Odo,”

You waited until you were at least a block away before you spoke your thoughts aloud, “I don’t know if we should trust your… friend,”

“I don’t either,” He replied quickly and you turned to look at him. 

“Then why did we—?”

“Because he was our only lead. Now we know where to go, and we know who will be the one to alert anyone about us,”

You blinked up at him in awe, Mando was _cunning_. You guessed he had to be to last this long in the bounty hunting business but it was still amazing to experience it firsthand and see him step into the role of a hunter pretending to be prey. Something primal settled into your stomach as you continued to walk to the train stop; the thrilling realization that you wouldn’t even last an hour if he ever went after you. 

Everything in your body was suddenly screaming for you to try it.

* * *

The three of you made your way down the busy street, a din of excited voices floating down from the opera house. Mando expertly weaved you through the crowd, following a mass exodus of people from all levels of wealth towards a seedy looking side street. You placed a soothing hand on the baby’s head at his soft whimper when a rough looking Besalisk nearly knocked you over, and made your way towards the Twi’lek bouncer that had been eyeing you all up and down until you reached the entrance. You grimaced at the offputting feeling that crawled up your spine.

“We’re here to see Gor Koresh,” The bouncer looked over at Mando when he spoke, then down to Drlukkyyy before landing on you. After a moment he finally stepped aside with only the slightest sliver of graciousness he could muster. 

“Enjoy the fights,” His fangs glinted in the low light and you eyed him warily as Mando and the baby’s pod went past him first. The salacious grin the man gave you did nothing to put your mind at ease. 

The sounds of jeering and weapons clashing filled the space as you walked further into the open pit, but the thing that really crawled under your skin were the sounds of squealing so incredibly terrifying and familiar that the Mandalorian had already reached out to grab your hand to pull you onward. You couldn’t tear your eyes away from the two Gamorreans in the fighting ring as they pushed and slashed at each other. Mando continued to guide you along, but it wasn’t until one of the fighters finally fell to the floor and the jeering and shouting intensified that you were finally able to pull your eyes away and focus back on the path in front of you. 

You already hated this place _._

“Mando, this is no place for a child. You should know this,” Koresh admonished after you’d all sat down.

“Wherever I go, he goes,” Koresh chuckled in response at the Mandalorian’s statement but your heart gave an unexpected clench at the way he’d spoken it. 

“So I’ve heard,” His eye never left you and you tightened your hold on the rifle in your lap, “The girl is new though... Or did you go ahead and add a new member to your crew? After all, it must be so difficult to work and evade the Imps with a child in tow,”

A beat passed as you all awkwardly pretended to be interested in the fight in front of you. Finally, Mando spoke about your reason for even being in this shithole in the first place, his voice surprisingly patient despite the situation. You glanced his way and saw the pseudo relaxed posture he’d forced himself to take. It made you wonder how many times he’d done this with other informants to get intel on bounties. 

“All work and no play makes for a boring life, Mando,” Koresh gestured out to the ring again when he saw Mando looking down at him, “Just enjoy the entertainment,”

“Mando…” You whispered anxiously, flinching when a Gamorrean squealed suddenly, and he lifted his hand subtly towards you.

“Just a little longer,” He whispered back but Koresh had already leaned forward to get a look at you.

“You don’t like the fights, sweetheart?” You wrinkled your nose at the pet name but chose to pick your battles. 

“I’m not a fan of Gamorreans,” You bit out and looked back at the two fighters in the ring as their vibro-axes met again, the small blast knocking one to the floor in a heap.

“Women,” Koresh laughed and elbowed the Mandalorian in the ribs lightly before turning back to the fight, “Bah! My Gamorrean’s not doing well,” 

You flinched again when Koresh suddenly shouted for the opponent to kill his fighter and your eyes widened as you looked between them. You watched in horror as the opponent’s axe fell heavily on the downswing, but the Gamorrean on the floor rolled out of the way in the nick of time. You flushed at your reaction, compassion wasn’t something you should show here. A fight to the death seemed a bit much though… You really had let yourself get too comfortable while being on the ship. The galaxy was a cruel place outside of your little bubble with the Mandalorian. 

“Are you much of a gambler, Mando?” Koresh asked mildly and your attention shifted back towards the two of them. That same feeling from earlier settled in your stomach and you grimaced. 

“Not when it can be avoided,” Mando replied evenly, his visor still trained on the fighting ring in front of you. 

“Well, I’ll bet you the information you seek that this Gamorrean’s going to die within the next minute and a half,” Koresh’s single eye pinned you both as he gave a half smile and looked over the Mandalorian appraisingly, “And all you have to put up in exchange... Is your shiny beskar armor,”

You and Mando both turned towards Koresh for that statement, a tense shift overcoming the previously uneasy atmosphere of the conversation. You gripped the rifle again as you waited for Mando’s response, whatever the outcome you needed to have his back. 

“I’m not leaving my fate, or theirs, up to chance,” Mando’s voice took on a sharp edge.

“Neither am I,” Koresh pulled out a blaster and pressed the barrel tight under your jaw until you hissed but before Mando could respond several bodyguards rose from the crowd around you to brandish their guns at you. Suddenly everything was too loud as everyone panicked at the sounds of blasters being drawn. You and Mando watched tensely as Koresh gave you both a sinister smirk. 

“Beskar’s value has continued to rise. I’ve grown quite fond of it… Give me your armor now or I will peel it off your corpse,”

“How much is the bounty these days?” Mando asks cooly, a subtle flick of his wrist charging the vambrace in his left hand. 

“High enough, but my real price is a little bit more… _Specific_ ,” Koresh chuckled darkly, “This time though it looks like the trouble has been saved for me. I usually have to seek out remnants of you Mandalorians in your hidden hives… All to harvest your precious shiny shells,”

Your stomach dropped, that was what the look in Koresh’s eye meant. He was a Mandalorian hunter.

“Where are the other Mandalorians?” Mando growled ferociously, but Koresh simply ignored him, instead grabbing one of your curls and twisting it around his finger. You shrugged him off aggressively but he simply pressed the barrel harder into your neck. 

“Tell me where the Mandalorians are and I’ll walk out of here without killing you,” Mando’s voice was deadly now, more intimidating and terrifying than in any other instance that you had seen him and it permeated through the air around you all. The silence from before had been heavy, oppressive in its suspense and unease— but this, this was downright _suffocating._ Every instinct in your body was screaming danger and you **_knew_** that he’d never hurt you. 

“I thought you said you weren’t a gambler,” Koresh’s voice wavered and then you saw it, the doubt creeping in that he still had the upper hand. You fingered the trigger of the rifle while you waited for an opening and watched in surprise as Drlukkyyy suddenly reached out and pressed the button to close his shield himself. 

“I’m not,”

Whistling filled your ears and you flinched at the proximity of the projectiles his arm guard had suddenly launched into the air. You swung the rifle up to knock Koresh’s blaster away from your neck and threw yourself to the floor. Clumsily, you rolled out of the way and onto your feet only to be grabbed by your jacket hood. 

“Little girls don’t belong in brawls!” Koresh’s voice growled in your ear and you choked against the pressure on your throat. 

“Then maybe it’s time for **_you_ ** to make your exit!” You grunted and then slammed your elbow into his gut and wrenched your rifle forward to tase him.

Your loose footing sent you and Koresh hurtling backwards into opposing walls. You wheezed harshly at the blow and shook your head to clear the ringing in your ears as you stumbled forwards to help Mando. The Twi’lek from before had him in a stronghold as another thug ran straight for him. You grit your teeth and limped as fast as you could to intercept them with the taser. The shock hurled the Zabrek forward right as the Mandalorian headbutts the guy behind him and then slams the Zabrek into the ground with a punch to the face. 

“Behind you!” You warned as you aimed your shot and vaporized the guy trying to cut him down with a vibro-axe. The Mandalorian grabbed your arm to throw you behind him so he could slam his helmet into the punch coming his way from the recuperated Zabrek. You stumbled back around and tased the guy only to come face to face with Koresh trying to escape from the arena.

“I’m going after Koresh!” You shouted as you rounded the ring and jumped over an upturned bench. 

“Yena! No— wait!” You whipped the rifle around and smacked it into the Zabrek who had attempted to lunge towards you. 

You kept running until you hit a corridor, bouncing off of a tight corner before barreling out the back door into the night. Koresh had just started running down the street but had apparently seen you before you saw him, his blaster already trained on you and firing your way. The shot grazed your cheek and shattered the goggle covering your left eye. You floundered at the shock of such a close call and ducked back into the alley to catch your breath, watching as the Mandalorian ran straight past you and tangled his grappling cable around Koresh’s legs. The man toppled over like broken vaporator and Mando dragged him painfully along the ground until he could string him up by his ankles from a street lamp. 

“You can’t kill me—!” Mando pulled his blaster out and pressed it to Koresh’s throat, causing the Abyssin to choke on his next words. 

“Alright, stop, stop! He’s on Tatooine!” He screamed. You and Mando both froze at the name.

Tatooine _._

_Of fucking course._

“What?”

“The Mando I know of is on Tatooine!” Koresh grunted in pain but you barely heard him, “Mos Pelgo!”

Why was it always kriffing Tatooine? 

Suddenly, several airspeeders flew past you raining blaster fire and you ducked further into the alley. Your eye burned from the fumes in the air and your cheek felt tight with the dried blood sitting on it. You looked around frantically for Mando and Drlukkyyy, sighing in relief that the cradle had been kicked into the alley while Mando returned fire. His beskar armor held its integrity as the bolts ricocheted off its surface, but you knew he couldn’t stay out there much longer. You looked down the other end of the alley and saw an elevator to the upper levels sitting across a skylane a few stories up. 

“Mando!“ You exclaimed and pointed in the direction you were heading while pushing the cradle ahead of you.

You heard his heavy footsteps behind you as you ran and the blaster fire died down behind you. You looked back for a moment only to have Mando pull you down as you came face to face with more of Koresh’s men running down the main street towards you. You ran down the streets, pushing and elbowing pedestrians out of the way while blasters fired off behind you and people screamed frantically. If you all continued to make this much chaos the New Republic was bound to show up. Mando pulled you down a side street to the other side of the block but you could still hear the thugs yelling behind you. You looked at the Mandalorian in front of you and it dawned on you that you weren’t going to be able to get away with his bucket reflecting every streetlight and airspeeder headlight coming your way. 

“Mando! We need a crowd!” You held back a wheezing cough as Mando tugged your hand to the left and into an elevator. You collapsed gratefully against the back wall until the shock of blaster bolts hitting the elevator outside reminded you of your current situation. You two stood out too much. You pulled the Mandalorian towards you quickly and began to tug on his cape.

“What are you doing?” 

“You stand out too much. A Mandalorian running through the streets of Coruscant can be seen a parsec away. Pull your cape over your helmet like a hood,” 

“That’s not going to work—“ You yanked the material over his head as you interrupted him. 

“—You have any other ideas? No? Then we’re going with this,” You made sure the majority of his armor was covered, at least from behind, and pulled your own jacket off to turn it inside out. Then you ripped off your broken mask despite the Mandalorian’s protests and swiped your tongue over your thumb to wipe at your bloody cheek. 

“It’s broken, Mando. They’ll spot me,” 

“This is a terrible idea,”

The elevator’s sensor pinged at your arrival and you and Mando slunk out into the crowd around you. Honestly, you knew the odds of this working out was slim, but it was better than nothing. You looked around warily, making sure the baby’s repulsor cradle was still following close behind. You noticed all of the linked arms and lustful gazes and linked your own loosely around the Mandalorian’s to fit in. You felt his gaze but ignored it as best as you could, and then realized exactly why you were seeing so many more couples around you. So, when a trio of obvious mercenaries skulked out of the elevator close by, you made the decision to follow the crowd into a side street that opened up to a plaza with several… _particular_ shops. 

Thank the Maker that Drlukkyyy was still closed up in his pod. 

“... Is there a reason why you’ve led us into the Red Light District?” Mando’s voice rumbled next to you, an obviously uncomfortable edge tinting it and you grimaced. 

“... Because public displays of affection make people uncomfortable,”

You turned to the Mandalorian and rested your chin on his shoulder, a fake smile gracing your face as you peeked over at your pursuers. They were still far behind but when you accidentally made eye contact with one of them, your eyes widened in panic. You gripped the Mandalorian’s arm tighter and turned to pretend to whisper in his ear, another incredibly stupid plan forming as your previous words echoed in your head. 

“I think they spotted us… Do you trust me?” You asked earnestly and he turned slightly towards you.

“ _Yes_ ,”

You pulled on his arm and led him towards a dead end alley. Your blood rushed in your ears as you quickly turned and pushed Drlukkyyy’s crib against the dumpster nearby and threw your jacket on top of it to hide it. The Mandalorian eyed the mouth of the alleyway, reaching for his blaster, but you grabbed his hands and pulled him towards you roughly. 

“What are you—?” He grunted when you suddenly jumped up and wrapped your legs around his hips. He stumbled and pressed you hard against the wall behind you, arms tightening under your ass as you both grunted. 

“ _Ah! Harder!”_ You keened in faux pleasure before whispering harshly, “Shut up and play along,” 

You felt him tense underneath you and honestly, you felt bad for the man. This was probably the most embarrassing thing _you_ had ever done in your life, and you had gotten caught with a boy in your room at 17. You faked some more moans as you kept an eye on the entrance of the alley, trying not to focus too much on the body underneath yours. Reasonably, you _knew_ that he had to be built under all those layers, his armor alone weighed a ton and he wore it daily. It was another thing though to physically feel it like this against you. You swallowed harshly and your next sigh wasn’t as fake as your previous ones. It didn’t take long for a few people to peer in and then quickly look away at your intimate display, and you breathed a sigh of relief. So far so good… Then your heart jumped into your throat when you spotted the trio from earlier. 

“Move your hips!” You hissed and then leaned your head back against the wall behind you. The Mandalorian continued to perfect his imitation of an inactive droid and you moaned loudly as you bucked your hips into the man… then blushed at the definitely not fake outline of his hard cock currently pressed against you. 

Fuck.

Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck.

You looked up the alleyway and found the men from earlier peering in towards you and your jaw dropped, fake moans lined up until the Mandalorian beneath you suddenly rolled his hips against yours and the one that came out was more of a gasp. You swallowed harshly and buried your face into the side of his cape as he continued to move. His hips ground and slid up against your clit and you had to remind yourself that this was fake but that it also wasn’t the time to hold back, so you tried to put on a good act. Even if the Mandalorian was working double time right now with how desperately his hips were fitting into yours. Your mind hazed over for a moment at the way his hands tightened on your ass.

“Ah… M-more,” You stuttered and it wasn’t until you blearily looked up again that you remembered the thugs were still there. The creeps were just watching! You raised your head defiantly and shouted over at them. 

“Hey! If you want a show, go and pay for it next door!” You yelled with a fake slur only to moan loudly as Mando’s hips suddenly jerked harshly into yours from you yelling in his ear. 

The trio seemed to snap from their stupor and lingered for a moment longer before slipping away to check the rest of the area. After another moment of tense waiting, you shuddered through your sigh of relief. Mando’s body was as tense as a hallikset string and you squeezed your hand under his pauldron to get him to release you. 

“Mando, they’re gone… We should leave,” The man didn’t budge though, hips still pressed snugly against yours and head bowed to look down at the way they slotted together, “... Mando?”

His head snapped up and you worried about what it was that he saw in your face at that moment. He set you down stiffly, almost like he’d creak at every bend of his joints, and stepped away from you. You leaned on the wall behind you for a second as you stood on jelly legs in front of him. You looked at him darkly when the echo of his last buck into your hips throbbed between your legs. 

“Let’s go,” He broke the silence and walked to the main plaza, looking out before gesturing for you to follow. You didn’t trust your voice, or brain, to say something that would make this situation less awkward so you just walked behind him quietly.

At least you weren’t being followed anymore.

* * *

The walk back to the Razor Crest was tense and you pulled the hood of your jacket up over your head to hide the fact that you couldn’t stop thinking about what had just happened. Every moment you were in an elevator alone had you shifting on your feet, trying to be discreet about the way your thighs clenched together. When his hands tightened into a fist for the upteenth time though, you realized that maybe you weren’t being as subtle as you had thought. 

“ ** _Quit_** _,_ ”

“... Sorry…” You squeaked and walked out of the elevator in a hurry. The Razor Crest had finally come into view and you were ready to hurl yourself into the propulsion system. The echoing clang of the ramp closing behind you had never sounded sweeter and more terrifying. 

“Come here,”

Nevermind.

You slowly turned towards the Mandalorian stalking towards you. An uneasy grin pulled across your lips as you backed further into the cargo hold. 

“You’re a _menace_ ,” He growled lowly and you shivered, “That was a hell of a stunt,”

“I-It worked, didn’t it?” You stumbled over a stray toy but the Mandalorian’s arm shot out and caught you roughly, pressing your body against his. 

“Unfortunately,” His voice was rough but his fingers barely brushed over the burn on your cheek. 

He reached into your jacket and your mind short circuited until he pulled out one of the bacta patches he had bought earlier from the pocket. His other arm released you and you staggered back a step while he peeled the backing off. 

“So what’s the prognosis, doc?” You asked softly, masking your sudden nervousness with a smile until he pressed the bacta patch onto your face. Your mouth pursed at the pain and he paused. It must have looked like it hurt pretty badly since his hand gently smoothed over your jaw in a soft sort of apology.

“You’ll live,” He replied exasperatedly and finally looked into your eyes.

“Ah, I guess you’re stuck with me for a bit longer then,” You tried to tease and he chucked your chin.

“Guess so,” He stepped back and you looked away shyly. You heard the tell tale swish of Drlukkyyy’s shield opening and turned back right as Mando lowered the toddler onto the cargo hold floor. 

“So, Koresh said the Mando he knows of is on Tatooine. There are two solid options there, Cobb Vanth and Boba Fett,” You filled the silence quickly. You had been thinking through the options earlier and now was the perfect time to distract from the situation earlier. 

“The Marshal of Freetown?”

“Yup, that’s the one,” You replied and pressed your lips into a line when you shifted at the uncomfortable itch on your skin from the bacta.

“He didn’t have any armor when I was last there,” 

“He may have gotten it later. My town was one of the first to get torched by the Red Keys, he may not have needed to use it or find it until they came for his…. Or the bastard hid it from you. I wouldn’t be surprised either way,”

“You’re not a fan of Vanth,” He stated and you gave him a sarcastic laugh.

“Yeah, No. Not even a little bit. The guy’s a show off, only cares about him and his own. If I had armor like that I would have liberated all of the towns on that gods forsaken planet,”

“It doesn’t really work like that,” 

“Why wouldn’t it? You liberate towns and blow shit up all the time,” You replied matter of factly and Mando sighed loudly as he sat down on a nearby crate.

“Boba Fett was the Mandalorian you said was on the Hutts payroll. You and Senator Organa talked about him before,” You blinked up at his change of subject. 

“A sick bastard is what he was, but yeah that’s him. I heard he got eaten by a sarlacc, though… But who knows if _those_ rumors are true,”

“What?” Mando leaned forward slightly and you continued on.

“Yeah, but I didn’t hear the whole story so I’m not sure,” You waved him off with a half shrug and a wave of your hand, “What town did Koresh say we’d find this guy?”

“Mos Pelgo,” Mando replied and you hummed in thought as you shifted to climb onto your cot. 

“I’ve never heard of it, but that’s not uncommon. Small settlements aren’t as well known as the bigger cities, and sometimes they’re even known by multiple names. It gets hard to keep track,”

You both sat for a moment, Drlukkyyy reaching up for you to pick him up. Mando grunted softly and looked to the side, his free hand opening and closing as he thought through your options. 

“It seems like we’re going in knowing that we won’t get the answers we need,” You looked up when Mando’s voice finally rang out in the silence. 

“Should we skip Tatooine and go back to looking for Luke then?” You asked and he made a noncommittal noise. After a beat he turned back to look at you.

“No. If Vanth has Mandalorian armor then it’s required by the Creed for me to go and retrieve it,”

You sighed softly as you leaned back against the hull. 

“Why is it always Tatooine?”


End file.
